City of Lawrence

Public Works Department

MEMORANDUM

DATE:	April 20, 2007
TO:	David Corliss
	City Manager
FROM:	Steve Stewart,  Central Maintenance Garage Manager
RE:	City Vehicle Purchases

Pursuant to your request, information on pricing differences between our bids and the MACPP bids are listed below and expanded on the attached spreadsheet.

Background

Following City Commission direction, staff changed the bidding process for most routine vehicle purchases.  In the past, the City was participating, as appropriate, in the MACPP multi-agency contract bid process which allowed for purchasing vehicles at the lowest bid awarded via this regional process.  Due to issues expressed by local vendors unable to meet the requirements (quantity) of the MACPP bid process, the City is now bidding each vehicle individually in order to maximize local vendor participation.

The attached spreadsheet shows the vehicles included in the 2007 budget that have been purchased this year.  It lists the vendor we purchased from and the difference between our bid and the MACPP contract. It also indicates whether the vehicle would have been purchased from the MACPP bid or bid separately. Also attached is an explanation of the MACPP bid process.    

Bidding Procedures and Pricing Summary 

The MACPP bid requires less staff time to manage than the individual bid process unless the city is acting as the lead agency. Staff time involved with each bid process is reflected on the first two worksheets of the attached spreadsheet. Additional expenses for advertising, printing and postage are shown on the purchasing worksheet.

The bid award sheet breaks down each bid. It shows awarded vendor and price, the second place and successive bidders and additional equipment.  There is an average price difference of four hundred dollars between our bids and the MACPP.  The differences for the 3/4 ton and larger trucks are significantly higher. This is due to additional incentives offered through Ford to multi-agency contracts. These incentives made a significant impact on some of our bids. The end of model run incentives like those for the Super Duty trucks can not be predicted with any accuracy outside the corporate financial departments.