Presenter
Presented by Mr. Deasy
Negative Recommendation
Title
Resolution authorizing and directing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Finance to initiate the process to enter into a Cooperation Agreement between the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, for the purpose of centralizing purchasing functions of both government entities, to cut costs for goods and services and improve overall efficiencies, resulting in a cost savings to the taxpayers of the City of Pittsburgh and County of Allegheny.
Body
WHEREAS, the combined leverage of joint City and County purchasing of goods and services can directly benefit the taxpayers by reducing expenses, streamlining the efforts of the purchasing departments, improving visibility into contract award and savings, aligning both strategy and contracts, and lastly, improving supplier relationships.
WHEREAS, the City and County have long purchased similar goods and services within the same supply base without having the opportunity to work cohesively to drive efficiencies and cost reductions and which centralization of these functions can benefit the City and County from 7% to 15% in cost reductions, equaling $3.5 million to $7.5 million annually for the City; and
WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has instituted a similar cost out program under Governor Ed Rendell which to date has saved $180 million for goods and services that were in the past sourced amongst many state agencies and not directly through the Pennsylvania Department of General Services (DGS); and
WHEREAS, in October 2006, Governor Rendell further stated that "by consolidating our purchases, we have been able to realize millions of dollars in savings and direct more of our resources to programs that benefit our citizens"; and
WHEREAS, cities like Washington DC as recently as December 2006 have reduced costs over $30 million for commodities as routine as electricity through aggregation programs with the Distri...
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