Posted: | March 23, 2017 03:38 PM |
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From: | Representative Kerry A. Benninghoff |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Reforming Cooperative Purchasing for Roofing Projects |
In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that will save school districts, local governments and ultimately taxpayers across the Commonwealth significant money. Currently, school districts and local governments can use Cooperative Purchasing Agreement for roofing construction and renovations. Pennsylvania is one of 23 states that use cooperative purchasing agreements for roofing construction. A recent survey by Ducker Worldwide, they found that schools using cooperative purchasing agreements through the Association of Educational Purchasing Agencies spent over $100 million more on projects in a 5 year period, than they would have through competitively bidding those same projects. In fact, Ducker found the average roofing installation cost $19.65 per square foot in Pennsylvania. This is more than 2x the cost of competitively bid roofing options, $9.83 per square foot. The Commonwealth properly uses cooperative purchasing agreements for similar, uniform commodities such as pencils, toner ink, and computers with great cost savings to taxpayers. Typically, construction projects are not one-size-fit-all purchases. Each school building is unique. This construction diversity simply does not make cooperative purchasing the ideal method of purchase. By eliminating the use of cooperative purchasing agreements and competitively bidding roofing projects at the local level, we can ensure that the taxpayer dollars are being utilized in the most judicious and responsible manner. Please join me in cosponsor this legislation. Thank you! |