Freeholders Give ‘Thumbs Down’ to Purchase Consolidation Bill

CREST HAVEN — Consolidation of services, a Garden State buzzword to save tax dollars, got a solid thumbs-down from Cape May County freeholders March 13.
Focus of the board’s displeasure took the form of a resolution that opposed two concurrent bills in the state Legislature. Both would permit establishment of a countywide purchasing system that utilizes county purchasing agents to hire private food vendors and custodial services. If adopted, all county school districts would have to be alerted by the county clerk.
The board was not alone in its distaste of the proposed legislation. According to Vice Director M. Susan Sheppard, the New Jersey Association of Counties similarly opposes the measure.
“I want to note, I am all for shared services,” said Sheppard at the board caucus.
Director Gerald Thornton told board peers that he had spoken with county Purchasing Agent Kim Allen, and learned the statewide purchasing agents association also opposes the bills.
Sheppard said the legislation, sponsored by Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell (D-31st), Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-20th) and Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, (D-38th) and in the Senate by Sen. Paul A. Sarlo (D-36th), was “generated by Service Employees International Union through their lobbyist, and dumps on the county.”
“The concept was pretty cool,” she said, “But I’m having trouble now trying to get Special Services (School District) and Technical School to share services.”
Thornton noted “whole different purchasing procedures” used by school districts and the county. He added if Special Services and Technical School districts want to do joint purchasing, he would be “all in favor” but “I don’t want it to be dumped on the (county) purchasing agent for all districts in Cape May County. There is no provision to compensate for the cost.”
The statement at the bill’s end notes its intention to “promote the concept of shared and consolidated services through the use of county-wide contracts in order to reduce school district costs by taking advantage of economies of scale and administrative efficiencies when dealing with private vendors for food and custodial services.”
“When a county that employs a qualified purchasing agent establishes a county-wide purchasing system, its clerk is required to notify all of the school districts within that county. The county’s qualified purchasing agent would maintain a webpage on the county’s Internet website listing the services for which the county has entered into a countywide contract.
“These contracts would be awarded to vendors on the basis of a best value at the lowest cost acquisition policy, which shall be set forth in detail in the bidding documents. School districts located within the county that contract for food or custodial services would be required to purchase through a county wide contract for a particular custodial or food service, if such contract exists.”
The statement further notes that the bill is “Not intended to require the privatization of any position currently filled by a public employee, but that any administrator who loses their job due to a county-wide purchasing system will received terminal leave pay pursuant to …the Uniform Shared Services and Consolidation Act.”
The freeholders’ resolution states the bill “is unnecessary legislation that will adversely impact essential functions of local county government and public school districts by ignoring substantial differences between functions and commodities in existing statutes for local county government and those of Title 18 governing schools…”
Further, it notes that the bill “ignores the fundamental differences between awarding formal public bids to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder in favor of an element not practiced in New Jersey local county government, that of “best value” with a list of ephemeral criteria requiring the use of subjective judgment during the evaluation of proposals…”
Copies of the resolution were sent to all other freeholder boards in other counties as well as to the governor, state League of Municipalities and bills’ sponsors.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com