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Executive Director's
Report - Volume 51, Number 3 - 2007
How much do YOU know about ACCA's sponsored products and services?
The ACCA Board of Directors, from time-to-time but infrequently, officially endorses a product or service to be made available to the organization’s members. Such endorsements are made with considerable forethought and generally are for products or services relatively unique at the time. The consideration of the term “unique” refers to a product or service that is generally not available in its form and offers a benefit, financial or otherwise, not generally available through other sources. In some instances the product or service may be available from other sources but the uniqueness threshold may have been reached through negotiation.
At the current time, the ACCA has endorsement agreements with four organizations; Nationwide Retirement Solutions, U.S. Communities, GovDeals, and ITC/Deltacom. Each such endorsement is evidenced by a written agreement. The agreements describe the responsibilities of each of the parties and in all instances provide that the Association is to receive a modest fee to reimburse it for its associated costs. The Association’s Board of Directors will not endorse any like or similar products or services during the periods of the agreements. While the Board of Directors takes the position that the endorsed products or services offer a significant benefit to the members and should be given serious consideration, the members are free to consider similar products or services of other providers if available.
Below are brief descriptions of the products or services currently endorsed by the Association. Also included is information related to the level of participation among the ACCA membership.
Nationwide Retirement Solutions
The National Association of Counties, about 27 years ago, endorsed a supplemental retirement program that is authorized by Section 457 of, the Internal Revenue Code. It is referred to as “deferred compensation,” and is a form of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) but available only to governmental employees.
The ACCA Board of Directors endorsed the program in the late 1980s and currently 50 county commissions allow more than 5,000 employees to participate. As of the second quarter of 2007, county employees had deferred more than $98.3 million into the program.
Forty other state associations of counties have endorsed the program. The combined total assets (deferrals) nationally is currently about $9.50 billion.
Information about participation in this deferred compensation program may be obtained by contacting the Nationwide Retirement Solutions office in Montgomery at 334-277-7820.
U.S. Communities
The National Association of Counties, in conjunction with the National League of Cities, United States Conference of Mayors, National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, and the Association of School Business Officials International, sponsor what is referred to as U.S. Communities (USC). USC is a nonprofit instrumentality of government that assists public entities in reducing the cost of purchasing products and services through the purchasing power of entities nationwide. State differently, USC is a mechanism through which products and services are bid on behalf of public entities on a national basis with an eye on realizing significant volume discounts.
This national program was established in 2005. The ACCA Board of Directors endorsed the program in January of 2006. As of the date of this article, 39 Alabama counties had registered to participate in the program. During the second quarter of 2007, these participating counties purchased through the program more than $401 thousand in products and services and the total generally increases each quarter.
Counties participating in this program save money in two ways. First, they purchase products and services that have been bid nationally. Participating vendors are able to cut their prices significantly because of the enormous volume purchasing of hundred of thousands of governmental entities throughout the nation. Second, counties do not have to incur the costs associated with soliciting bids locally.
Information about participation in this purchasing program may be obtained by logging onto the ACCA website and clicking on the U.S. Communities link.
GovDeals
The ACCA staff was approached in early 2001 by representatives of a then small Alabama-based company called GovDeals. The representative explained that they had developed an “online” auction service through which governmental entities could dispose of surplus property. They explained that a few governmental entities in the state had used their service with significant success. The representatives requested that the Association consider endorsing the program.
A presentation was subsequently made to the Board of Directors. The members of the Board felt that while there were other auction services available in the state, this particular service offered by GovDeals was unique and could be a significant benefit to counties. The Board of Directors officially endorsed the services of GovDeals in July of 2001.
As of October of 2007, 51 counties in Alabama use the services provided by GovDeals. Since 2001, counties have sold more than $9.4 million in surplus property through this service, $2.3 million of which was during the first nine months of 2007.
Information about participation in this auction service may be obtained by logging onto the ACCA web site and clicking on the GovDeals link or by calling them at 1-800-613-0156.
ITC Deltacom
During the early 1990s, almost one-half of the counties were purchasing long distance telephone services from a company then known as Delta Com. Because of its significant penetration into the governmental market in Alabama, and because of the significant savings realized by the counties that were using its services, the Association’s Board of Directors agreed to endorse Delta Com’s long distance and other services. The endorsement was made in 1992.
Delta Com subsequently changed its name to ITC DeltaCom and has expanded its services considerably. The endorsement is still in effect today and many counties continue to purchase communication services from the company.
Information about securing services from ITC DeltaCom may be obtained by calling 334-387-4700.
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