The Great Neck Park District is reaching out to New York State Senator Craig Johnson and New York State Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel for assistance on getting legislation to allow special districts to purchase off other municipalities' competitive bidding contracts. The Park District is interested in promoting intergovernmental teamwork in purchasing commodities and services, which should produce economic benefits to taxpayers, not only in Great Neck but throughout New York State.

As today's regulation stands, the New York State General Municipal Law requires governmental entities, when undertaking public works projects or making purchases, to engage in a formal competitive bidding process to guarantee fairness. That process involves expenditures of time and taxpayer dollars.

Mutual bidding creates greater efficiency. For example, if there is an opportunity to purchase off a contract that has already been competitively bid by other governmental entities, then those other entities can benefit from the competitive bidding process without replicating the time and expense. It would also be beneficial for smaller governmental entities since they can enjoy the economics of scale attainable by larger governmental entities. This would be reflected in the bids that the larger entity receives from bidders who see the opportunity for a greater volume of sales.

The rationale behind this exception seems obvious if it will save time and money.

Michelle Schimel stands firm in her belief that this will benefit her constituents. She recently commented, "I commend the Great Neck Park District for taking a proactive role in seeking costsaving solutions. This is a common sense initiative that will allow special districts to cooperatively engage in economies of scale when purchasing. The residents of Nassau County have made it clear that they want efficiency and service, transparency and value for their tax dollar. I am proud to engage in this effort."

"These types of cooperative efforts are exactly what is needed to truly reduce the burden on our property taxpayers, while maintaining the local accountability and high quality of service that draws people to our communities," said Senator Craig Johnson, who was recently elevated to the ranking member of the NYS Senate's Committee on Local Governments. "As these contracts have already been competitively bid, this legislation would allow local governments to avoid a costly process while still maintaining the fairness of municipal contracts awards procedures. I applaud the Great Neck Park District for taking the initiative and partnering with us to make Nassau County a better and more affordable place to live."

With the help of Senator Johnson and Assemblywoman Schimel this endeavor should ultimately help all taxpayers in the state of New York.