Mangano Announces Nassau Fire & Schools Look To Join LIPC
Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced an agreement between Nassau and Suffolk counties and law firms representing many of Nassau’s 76 fire districts and 56 school districts, to allow all of the 132 separate municipal entities to join the Long Island Intergovernmental Purchasing Council (LIPC) - a bi-county purchasing consortium formed to save taxpayer dollars. The Council also agreed to form a sub-committee, specifically targeting savings for fire districts in both counties.
“It’s shameful that Nassau County residents now pay the highest property taxes in the nation,” said County Executive Ed Mangano. “All municipalities must begin to work collaboratively toward reducing costs for taxpayers. This is a great step toward achieving that goal.”
Discussion at today’s LIPC meeting, the Council’s third, focused on its next cooperative bid for sewer, water and wastewater treatment chemicals. Annually, Nassau and Suffolk counties alone spend millions of dollars on these chemicals. Several of the consortium’s members, including Massapequa, Oyster Bay and Jericho Water Districts also expressed interest in joining the cooperative bid, which will be issued this summer. Further discussions included the consideration of bulk purchasing medical supplies.
“I am encouraged by support shown thus far and have confidence that the efforts of this group will help eliminate the waste of taxpayer dollars,” said Mangano. “Together, we are stronger.”
The LIPC had a successful first cooperative bid for multipurpose office paper earlier this year. Nassau, Suffolk and the Town of Oyster Bay already purchase from the winning bidder and are currently saving thousands of dollars. Nassau County alone is estimated to save $57,000 this year on its paper purchases.
Port Washington Water Pollution Control District Commissioner John Olszewski stated, “In addition to achieving savings by bidding as a consortium, it’s a win-win situation for the local governments, the vendors and the environment in regards to fuel efficiency and reduction in administrative costs.”
“The Jericho Water District is constantly looking for ways to save its consumers money and therefore did not hesitate to join the LIPC once it was given the opportunity to do so,” said Jericho Water District officials. “The District joined the LIPC in the interest of reducing the cost of water supply chemicals and other consumable goods and is hopeful that the regional buying power of the LIPC will foster more competitive pricing on the local level and streamline the purchasing process for the members of the LIPC.”
The LIPC is aimed at pooling common government needs to obtain better pricing to help cut taxpayer costs and execute bulk purchases for common goods and services. Municipalities interested in joining the LIPC simply need to pass a resolution authorizing them to join. There is no fee and, as a member, a district may participate in any of the consortiums’ bulk purchases which are aimed at reducing costs for taxpayers. The next open meeting of the LIPC is July 28 in Oyster Bay.
In addition to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, members include these districts and municipalities:
Franklin Square (& Munson) Fire District Jericho Water District Massapequa Water District Oyster Bay Water District Port Washington Water Pollution Control South Farmingdale Water District Syosset Fire District Town of Brookhaven Town of Oyster Bay Village of Ashroken Village of East Hampton Village of Laurel Hollow Village of Matinecock Village of Plandome Heights Village of Sands Point Village of Stewart Manor Village of Kings Point Village of Great Neck Plaza Village of Lindenhurst Village of Massapequa Village of Northport Village of Patchogue Village of Valley Stream |
