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Kentucky
League of Cities Finds Success with Online Reverse Auction John
McGill Eighteen Kentucky cities have already utilized the online bidding service, which is offered by KLC in partnership with Ecuity, a Louisville-based technology firm. Most have realized significant savings on their purchases of goods and services, says Kirby Ramsey, KLC's Director of Urban Affairs. Cities have long used a sealed-bid process to buy services and equipment or contract for construction projects, with suppliers submitting written bids and supporting information that city officials review at a specific time. "We offer an alternative to that," Ramsey says. "We take our cities online to the Internet, where they can take advantage of technology. This is the opposite of an auction, where you're trying to get the price to increase over a period of time. The reverse auction allows the price to decrease over a period of time."
There's
a specific time limit on the auction and suppliers can continue to bid
lower to land a contract until the clock hits zero-"like,"
says Ramsey, "the last shot in a basketball game." Eighteen
auctions have been completed to date for everything from fire apparatus
to computers. Estimated costs related to these auctions totaled close
to $5 million with low bids resulting in an average savings of 15 percent. For
more information visit the Kentucky League of Cities Website
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