Mayor Jim Begley recently approved the use of online auctioneer GovDeals (www.govdeals.com), a service that conducts online sales of surplus government property and equipment to other public institutions.
Administration officials point to the online service as one that can eliminate the costs associated with storage and depreciation of its unused property and bolster revenues.
The surplus property currently being sold by the city includes six standard vehicles, a bulldozer, a dump truck and an ambulance.
"In the past, the city teamed up with the county and held one auction per year," Assistant Director of Public Works Dean Dellaquila said in a press release issued Wednesday. "Surplus equipment had to be stored until the auction at considerable cost to the city and the potential number of buyers or bidders was limited."
Begley also chose the online auction service because it is essentially paperless, in comparison to traditional auctioning methods, making it consistent with his "lean to green" approach to problem-solving. It also requires fewer man-hours.
"It's efficient, less labor intensive and brings in more dollars," the mayor said of GovDeals.
Officials are also optimistic the new MCSJ Finance System, a software product of Edmund and Associates Inc., will make city government more efficient, secure and accountable.
The new system changes the flow of the city's purchase orders by having departments initiate the process online, rather than on paper.
It requires approvals from department heads, the business administrator, and the comptroller on purchase orders, and figures to save the city money by eliminating paper costs and cutting back man-hours required to track orders, file forms, and update vendor information, as well as costs associated with storage and security.
"Streamlining government means security, efficiency and accountability. We can achieve these things and do something that utilizes "green" technologies," Begley said. "In the future, consideration will be given to other uses of e-government applications."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Sean McCullen
Quelle/Source: The Bridgeton News, 17.07.2008
