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Since 1997, this Association
has provided counties with access to businesses that offer
highly competitive pricing or unique services tailored to
meet the needs of county government. The first such business
provider was
Office DEPOT, which had negotiated a national contract through
the competitive bidding process in a program sponsored by
NACo in 1995. The NACo/Office DEPOT contract, which was rebid and renegotiated in 2001, provides office supplies to
counties at about a 60% reduction in cost. There are
currently 42 South Carolina counties participating in the
Office DEPOT program. |
The Association recently entered into new agreements with
three companies for services available to interested counties.
Participation in each program is completely optional. If a
county is interested in participating or finding out more
about a program, it should contact the person listed in the
appropriate section, or it can contact the Association staff
at 1-800-922-6081 (ask for Rob Lyon) or e-mail at
rob@scac.state.sc.us. To take advantage of any of
these services,
the county will need to register and
sign its own agreement with a designated service provider. The new companies and their service
areas include:
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This company
offers access to GovDeals.com, an
internet website specializing in the auction sale of surplus
government equipment. The term "equipment" means just about
anything the governmental entity wants to get off the books. In addition to cars,
trucks and computer |
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equipment, GovDeals has unloaded some pretty unusual things,
including tons of freshwater oyster shells.
GovDeals offers
the county access to a broader market, a quicker turnaround
in getting excess equipment off the books, and it works
directly with county staff to reduce the problems associated
with the traditional auction sales. Additional benefits of
an internet auction include the ability to offer items for
sale when the equipment becomes available (rather than
having to wait until enough equipment is available to
justify a traditional auction), and the fact that equipment
does not have to be relocated to the auction site to offer
it for sale. Also, internet sales usually generate higher
sales prices than do similar goods sold at a traditional
government auction. |
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Point of Contact for GovDeals, Inc.:
Rebecca Murphy
Sales Representative, Mid-Atlantic Region
2034 Sharon Lane
Charlotte, NC 28211
(980) 254-8908
rmurphy@govdeals.com
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TBS offers counties the opportunity to have their telephone,
cell phone, and related charges reviewed by a communications
expert to determined if they are getting all the services they
contracted for from their service provider and whether they are
overpaying for the services they are receiving. TBS’s services
are paid for on a percentage of savings; consequently, if there
are no savings, there is no cost to the county. The audit
requires little or no effort on the part of the county; the
information needed can be determined by providing a copy of
invoices, etc., to TBS which does the audit offsite.
The county can recover for overcharges going back up to six
years. TBS is paid 50% of all funds recovered, plus 50% of
future savings over the next three years, based on the
overcharges uncovered in the audit.
Point of contact for TBS:
Mr. Barry B. Francini, President
Post Office Box 13298
Charleston, South Carolina, 29422
843-768-0078
For more information on the financial services programs, contact
Rob Lyon at 1-800-922-6081 or e-mail Rob at
rob@scac.state.sc.us.
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