SUFFOLK COUNTY EXECUTIVE BELLONE ANNOUNCES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TO ADVANCE SHARED SERVICES PLAN
Suffolk County Signs Contract with Veratics to Create Inter-Municipal Web Portal Under SuffolkSHARE
Millions in Shared Services Savings Already Achieved through New Sewer-Use Agreement, County-Town Transfer of Surplus SCAT Bus and Dump Trucks
Watch Video to Hear from Veteran-Owned Firm that will Develop Modern Tool for Local Governments
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced that a contract has been signed between Suffolk County and a veteran-owned small business firm, Veratics, to implement a web portal as part of the Suffolk County Shared Services Plan. Veratics was selected as the contract recipient in January following a thorough vetting process by the SuffolkSHARE team. Suffolk County, which was awarded $349,005 in state funding through the 2017 Long Island Regional Economic Development Council, will apply this grant towards the development of the web portal. The web portal is anticipated to launch its first phase beginning this fall, and Suffolk County will submit its application to the State to obtain matching funds achieved following the close of the County’s 2018 fiscal year.
“With each passing day, we are working together with our partners in local government to identify opportunities and achieve millions in savings to the taxpayer,” said Suffolk County Executive Bellone. “This contract brings us one step closer to developing a sophisticated tool that will help governments decide for themselves what is the most efficient way to select and provide services.”
The multi-functioning web portal will assist local governments with the facilitation and management of purchases of goods and services between municipalities and the private sector. It will also enable municipalities to share information about the services they perform and shop for the services they need. A number of shared services will be accessible through this portal, including recycling services, marine equipment, street sweepers, road resurfacing crews, senior and youth health care and emergency management. Municipalities will also find the web portal to provide them with a virtual marketplace, the capability to upload contracts and licenses, an inter-municipal agreements listing, municipal communication forums like video conferencing, a SuffolkSHARE scoring tool kit, cooperative procurement on-line solicitation functionality and capabilities for reporting, ratings and feedback features.
Tony Galluscio, President of Veratics, Inc., said: “We are honored to be selected by Suffolk County to support this important SuffolkSHARE initiative that will save taxpayers millions of dollars. As a New York State Certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business with over forty percent veterans, we recognize New York State and Suffolk County’s commitment to Veterans, and we value this opportunity to serve the citizens and government of Suffolk County. We are dedicated to delivering technology that will improve government operations and save taxpayer dollars. Veratics is excited and proud to be selected as the platform provider for SuffolkSHARE."
The Suffolk County Shared Services Plan, known as SuffolkSHARE, is a comprehensive 10-point plan that provides a modern inter-municipal framework among participating municipalities to enhance service offerings and improve the ability for local governments to collaborate, implement and augment their programs and initiatives. The plan includes designing a virtual municipal service store, establishing an intra-county procurement consortium, offering an assortment of inter-municipal services with participating municipalities, and providing a certification function to identify and quality savings achieved by the use of the shared services program.
Town of Smithtown Ed Wehrheim Supervisor said: “Smithtown has had tremendous success in participating in Suffolk County’s Shared Services plan. The most recent example of how we saved tens of thousands in taxpayer dollars with the transfer of a surplus SCAT bus to the Town as an alternative to renting a temporary replacement bus. This program helped us to control unforeseen expenses and ensured that there was no diminishment of critical services.”
Town of Riverhead Supervisor Laura Jens-Smith said: "I am pleased and excited about the money we’ll save by joining with Suffolk County and our neighboring towns on the Shared Services Panel. Riverhead has already saved it's taxpayers over $300,000 from joint vehicle purchases and keeps a daily watch for more opportunities to reduce our costs while continuing to provide the best for our residents.”
To date this year, several million dollars in shared services savings have entered the pipeline. These include, but are not limited to: