Thorold, Welland sign purchasing partnership
Welland and Thorold will work together to cut costs on such things as vehicles, equipment, road salt, paper towels, photocopy paper, toner cartridges and computers.
“As municipal budgets continue to be stretched to fund core programs and services and invest in infrastructure and facilities, we need to find innovative ways to contain costs and find savings,” Thorold CAO Manoj Dilwaria said in a news release.
Dilwaria and Welland CAO Gary Long were on hand Tuesday as Welland Mayor Frank Campion and Thorold Mayor Ted Luciani signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on joint purchasing and procurement initiatives for the neighbouring municipalities.
Dilwaria said the two cities look forward to collaborating on some early wins and expanding their partnership to include joint procurement initiatives such as requests for proposals for various contracts such as road reconstruction and sidewalk repairs, and explore opportunities to reduce the cost by taking advantage of economies of scale.
Long said the two municipalities purchase many of the same capital and operational items every year.
“So it’s prudent and practical for us to work together with Thorold, as well as other municipalities, on joint purchasing to achieve better value and more competitive pricing,” he said.
“This will translate into cost savings for our organizations and create financial flexibility in our budgets which ultimately benefits taxpayers,” Long said.
Both Thorold and Welland are members of the Niagara Public Purchasing Committee, comprising government, education and health organizations across Niagara.
The objective of the co- operative purchasing program is to derive the maximum value from each dollar spent, through co- operation and professional purchasing procedures. Co- operative purchasing is a technique whereby a number of authorities agree, jointly, to invite quotations or tenders on selected commodities and services, the release said.
The memorandum will be presented to the two city councils for final ratification.