JOINT PURCHASING WITH THE STATE By STEVE McCLURE, Director, DCCA

With increasing budgetary demands, public officials and administrators must constantly strive to make their local governments more cost-effective and efficient. One area in which cost savings can be easily recognized is the purchase of goods and services — particularly purchasing jointly with the State of Illinois.

The State of Illinois joint purchasing program was established by State statute (Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 85, Par. 1601 et. seq.). Participation in the program is voluntary and permits local governments to take advantage of one form of cooperative purchasing. The savings which may result from participation depend largely upon what is purchased and the quantities purchased by all of the participating units of government. There is no cost to participate in the service.

The program is administered by the Procurement Services Division of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS). CMS, through its Procurement Division, establishes rules and regulations for the purchasing procedures in accordance with its policies and State statutes.

Under this program, the State of Illinois does not become the purchasing agent for any governmental unit, nor does the State make sales directly to local governments. Each unit must issue its own purchase orders, accept its own deliveries and make its own payments, but the program is still beneficial. Vendors, with the prospect of generating a greater volume of sales, make price proposals to the State. CMS then makes these generally lower prices known to participating local governments through frequent publications.

The State enters into an open-ended contract with the various vendors, providing a large variety of commodities and equipment. Some of the items that may be available include: office supplies, batteries, automotive supplies, air conditioners, road salt, fuels and lubricants, audio-visual equipment and furniture. Due to changing market conditions and changing policies of manufacturers and vendors, the types of available products may vary.

It's easy to participate in the program. First, call or write for the information material available from CMS. Once the information is received, a resolution must be adopted by the local government, resolving to participate in the program and agreeing to comply with its regulations and its rules. Send a certified copy of the adopted resolution to CMS. Once CMS has received the resolution, the local government becomes eligible to participate and is placed on a regular mailing list.

Communities on the list will regularly receive information regarding vendors, products, prices, quality, quantities, etc. When an item available through the program is desired, the local government should contact the vendor directly, including the State contract number and price on the purchase order. All other actions are the same as with any other vendor.

In those instances where an open-ended contract is not available, and a local government wishes to purchase a large quantity of a specific commodity, a requisition procedure may be used. The local government begins this procedure by submitting the proper requisition to CMS, which issues notices to vendors who supply the item inviting them to bid on the purchase contract. Other requirements of the bid opening and acceptance procedures are published by CMS. Once the low bid has been accepted, the local government is

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notified that it may now issue a purchase order for the commodity, as with other open-ended contracts.

As a means of verifying that the local government has complied with the conditions of the original bid award, a copy of the purchase order is sent to the Procurement Services Division, CMS. This copy is also used by CMS for statistical purposes.

The State's only purpose in becoming involved in joint purchasing is to assist local governments in reducing costs. The program also provides help where the local government does not have a purchasing department or function. Program participation may result in lower unit costs due to bulk buying; better specifications, improving the quality of the items purchased; lower prices due to vendor competition; and indirect savings resulting from the elimination of certain local government expenses, such as administration, bid processing, and testing.

The procedures for joint purchasing should be made a part of each local government's purchasing and contracting policies and procedures. These should specify that the availability of a commodity would first be checked on the list of State contract vendors.

Other cooperative arrangements for procurement also may be investigated, such as joint purchasing through Councils of Government or other local consortiums. The State excess and surplus property program provides many items of new and used surplus equipment that can be of value to local governments. In addition, the purchasing of commodities which are manufactured by State institutions is a source of possible cost savings. Developing local bulk and centralized purchasing procedures is another important management practice which should be explored.

For more information about the joint purchasing program, contact DCCA's office of Local Government Management Services at 1-800-562-3468 or Procurement Services, Department of Central Management Services at 1-217-785-3868. •

Page 14 / Illinois Municipal Review / July 1990