Washington Counties Benefit From Cooperative Purchasing

Courthouse Journal
Washington State Association of Counties & Washington Association of County Officials
December 5, 2002

Hundreds of local governments in the State of Washington are saving tens of thousands of dollars every month by participating in the US Communities Government Purchasing Alliance. The Alliance is co-sponsored by the National Association of Counties and the Washington State Association of Counties along with other national and state associations of counties, cities and schools. Any local government in Washington may use the program under existing state statutes.

So how does the program work? Large public agencies from across the United States solicit contracts on behalf of all local and state governments. These public agencies follow the public purchasing procedures of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing. Each solicitation includes language that allows other public agencies to piggyback on the contract without having to re-solicit.

Any county, city, school, special district, state agency or non-profit serving local government can access these contracts. The public agencies pay no fees to participate and do not have to commit to a specific amount of spending on the program.

Presently contracts are available for office supplies, industrial and electrical supplies, office furniture and computers and peripherals. In 2003 the program will also have janitorial supplies, copiers, school classroom furniture and auto parts.

Large and small counties alike benefit from the program. For example, Fairfax County, Virginia saves over $800,000 a year on office supplies by using the program. The smaller the jurisdiction, the greater the savings, due to the substantial buying power of the US Communities Alliance.

An advisory board of public purchasing officials oversees the US Communities program. The representative from Washington is Melody Mociulski, Director of Purchasing for the City of Seattle. Eighteen counties in Washington are presently using the program and King County recently joined the Alliance.

The program is very easy to use. Sign up on-line at www.uscommunities.org. Once you register for the program, you will be asked to check the contracts you would like to access. A representative from the supplier will contact your county within 48 hours to set up an account, provide the appropriate catalogues and pricing sheets, and answer any questions. Your county may then purchase as much or as little as it desires.

For more information on the program, contact Ginni Peppert at the WSAC office, telephone (360) 753-1886, email gpeppert@wacounties.org or Rob Braulik at braulik@uscommunities.org. Get on board today and start saving!