Press of Atlantic City
Back
to top..
By THOMAS BARLAS Staff Writer, (609) 272-7201, E-Mail
Atlantic County on Wednesday apparently became the first government in the state to experiment with online public bidding.
The result: A per-ton price for rock salt that's about $8 less than what's charged through the state's public contract system, generally considered the least expensive way to buy goods.
"This is something that we tried," Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said. "It worked. We will do this again.
"It is the taxpayer that benefits here."
The county wound up with a $36.90 per ton rock salt bid after about an hour's bidding at the Web site
www.njlowestbid.com
That's currently the only company in New Jersey approved by the state to perform the online bidding process for commodities such as rock salt, computers and paper products.
Board of education and state, county and municipal governments and agencies are currently required to solicit bids from vendors for various services or goods that exceed $17,500. Vendors get bid specifications, provide sealed bids and, in most cases, the vendor that submits the lowest bid and meets all the specifications gets the contract.
However, www.njlowestbid.com uses a reverse auction.
On Wednesday, Atlantic County-approved vendors posted their bids for rock salt on the Web site for the duration of the auction, which lasted about one hour. Vendors saw the bids, but not the identity of the competing vendors.
Vendors started underbidding each other until the Claymont, Del., firm of Oceanport Inc. wound up with the lowest per-ton bid for 11,000 tons of rock salt, which will be used by the county and several municipalities participating in a joint-purchasing program.
In all, four vendors wound up submitting 60 different bids.
"They were really going penny for penny for a while," Levinson said.
"From that point of view, it was good," www.njlowestbid.com President Al Poreda said.
State Department of Community Affairs officials said Poreda's company was approved earlier as an "alternative bidding agent" under an experimental, three-year program that expires in about two years.
Atlantic County government was the first governmental body in the state to sign on to the program, Poreda said.
"They rolled the dice first, and it worked," he said. "I really have to take my hat off to them. They were the ones willing to take the first step."
Poreda said other government bodies in the state were waiting to see how Atlantic County's online auction went before signing up for their own on-line auctions.
"We had gotten a lot of feedback on the county and municipal level," he said. "No one wanted to be number one."
Poreda said his company was "laid back" about the Atlantic County online auction, and concentrated on "doing it right."
"We
have a lot more confidence now," he said. "We will be trying
to engage purchasing agents on different levels of government."
Letter to Atlantic
CountyBack
to top..
 |
eCommerce Services for New Jersey Public & Private Sectors |
|
|
September 3, 2002
Kathy
Arrington
Atlantic County Director of Budget & Purchasing
1333 Atlantic Avenue, Sixth Floor
Atlantic City, New Jersey 08401
Re: Local Unit Electronic Technology Pilot Program and Study Act (P.L. 2001, c.30)
Dear Ms. Arrington:
As you well know, Atlantic County entered into history on August 28 by conducting the first-ever online public bid in New Jersey. With the help of njlowestbid.com, the electronic bidding for your county's rock salt last week saved Atlantic County taxpayers $8.10 a ton (compared to the state contract price of $45/ton), or $89,100 for the entire 11,000-ton supply. Usually, counties average 3 or 4 bids for such a product. On August 28, you received sixty bids, driving the cost down dramatically. I would like to congratulate you on this savings and thank County Executive Levinson and the Board of Chosen Freeholders for their desire to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of county government.
Legislation allowing waivers to the existing Local Public Contracts Law requiring the use of the sealed bid process was first sponsored by State Senator Bernard F. Kenny, Jr. and was signed into law on March 9, 2001 by Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco. This legislation permits local government entities in New Jersey to procure commodity type items such as rock salt and heating oil using an Internet-based reverse auction format.
The use of the Internet to procure goods and services has the potential to streamline purchasing procedures, reduce administrative costs and most importantly reduce the cost of goods and services procured. Over twenty states now use some form of eProcurement service. Studies have shown that the cost savings to taxpayers commonly ranges between 5 and 15 percent.
As a result of this successful auction, your office has a prime example of "government under glass" at its finest. Njlowestbid.com plans to be a helpful tool for purchasing agents across the state.
Again, I would like to thank you for your use of njlowestbid.com, and I look forward to working with you on future cost-savings opportunities for the taxpayers of Atlantic County.
Respectfully,
Al Poreda
President
Enclosure
cc:
Hon. Dennis Levinson
Hon. Bernard F. Kenny, Jr.
John E. McCormac, State Treasurer
Hope Blackburn, NJ Director of Purchase & Property
Mark Pfeiffer, NJ DCA
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
| www.njlowestbid.com | ||
