Harrisburg is contemplating membership in CapCOG, whose joint bidding program may be able to produce savings through bulk purchases.
Anyone who has shopped at a wholesale retailer like Costco or Sam’s Club is familiar with the economy of scale. You can save a lot of money buying almonds one 3-pound bag a time—assuming you will need 3 pounds of almonds.
A similar idea is behind a recent push for Harrisburg to join the Capital Region Council of Governments, or CapCOG, which operates much like a members-only shopping center for municipalities.
Membership in CapCOG costs $1,500 per year. In exchange for that sum, local governments gain access to CapCOG’s joint bidding process, through which the council purchases bulk items as varied as road salt, street signs, line paint and golf-course sand and then passes on the savings to individual members.
Those savings often compare favorably to other joint-bidding programs, like the statewide COSTARS program, according to CapCOG Executive Director Ann Simonetti. For example, last year, the council’s bidding process on road salt secured a current price for its members of $58.51 per ton—about $7.50 cheaper than the COSTAR program’s listed price of $65.97 per ton for members in Dauphin County.
CapCOG members also gain access to the council’s joint board of appeals, a roster of architects, plumbers, electricians and other qualified professionals who can hear appeals of decisions by member governments on building and construction projects.
Harrisburg city government will consider becoming a member this month, following a presentation by Mayor Eric Papenfuse at City Council’s legislative session Tuesday.
During the brief presentation, Papenfuse said he expected membership to confer savings well in excess of the cost of joining. Council members, who had questions about the voting rights accompanying membership, placed the item in committee.
Simonetti, reached by phone on Thursday, explained that member municipalities each send one representative to monthly board meetings. Past meetings have featured presentations on issues like stormwater management, she said, as well as visits from state legislators to discuss bills relevant to local governments.
Board meetings will also occasionally involve member votes on resolutions for or against legislation being considered at the state level.
CapCOG was formed in the 1970s as the West Shore Council of Governments. It changed its name in 2005, following the addition of members from Dauphin County. The council currently has 40 municipal members from Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Perry and York counties.
Simonetti, who served 14 years on the Marysville borough council and is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Governments, runs the organization with one other part-time staff member out of rented space in the Hampden Township municipal building.
She first introduced Mayor Papenfuse to her organization back when he was campaigning for office. The two sat beside each other at a Harrisburg Regional Chamber committee meeting, where they exchanged business cards, she said.
