By Cindy J. Roth
The legislature approved the county's membership to the Long Island Municipal Cooperative Purchasing Group (LIMCPG), which allows for centralized cooperative purchasing among its members. From police cars to paint, rock salt and road paving, county officials are hopeful that buying in bulk through LIMCPG will drive prices down across the entire spectrum of supplies used on a daily basis.
"We can realize and take our individual weakness and make a collective strength and increase our purchasing power," said County Executive Thomas Suozzi (D-Glen Cove). "The municipalities and the county will both prosper from the money saved, and consolidating our bid requests will be much more efficient."
LIMCPG started in December 2000 as an initiative of the Nassau County Village Officials Association. It currently consists of 20 municipalities, including the villages of Lynbrook and Malverne.
Through an agreement for procurement initiatives with the Lynbrook-based company E-Public bids, LIMCPG has the capacity to develop a bid request and electronically distribute the bid to registered suppliers.
"Joining this purchasing cooperative provides the county purchasing departments access to group purchasing while also embracing technological advances...and all this was developed in our backyard by a Lynbrook-based firm," said Lynbrook Mayor Eugene Scarpato.
John Stewart, E-Public bids chairman, said on average LIMCPG members save 10 to 25 percent on their purchases. The bidding process also allows a lot of freedom for buyers. LIMCPG members can buy as a group, piggyback onto a state bid or purchase their supplies separately. Even though there is centralized bidding among members, each municipality can separately decide to purchase supplies.
Nassau County Leg. Vincent Muscarella (R-West Hempstead) supported the county's membership into LIMCPG, calling it one of Suozzi's initiatives that makes a fair amount of sense. Expanding purchasing power to receive lower cost items is a practical way to enter into agreements between the county and villages, said Muscarella.
Suozzi described cooperative purchasing as a new era in municipal spending. Beyond towns and villages, it is anticipated school, water and fire districts will become involved with LIMCPG, working together to save taxpayer dollars.
"This is just the beginning of the process," said Suozzi. "We're looking to the towns to bring in [on this] as well. Building these relationships will explore how to bring us together."
