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not best way to
handle surplus
Warehousing pallets of outdated equipment and auctioning it at the fairgrounds may have become an awkward, sometimes inefficient way for Columbus County to do business.
The county’s purchasing director told commissioners Monday that e-Bay and other Internet sites offer opportunities for rapid, fair prices on select surplus items. Current rules don’t allow quick sales, even if managers discover a good deal. Anything worth at least $5,000 is subject to current restrictions that encourage periodic auctions.
Commissioners wisely tabled a proposal Monday that would have given county staff tremendous freedom to dispose of anything other than land or buildings worth less than $30,000. Although commissioners would review the list of “surplus” items, staff could negotiate sales to individuals without public notice and without seeking more than one bid. The proposal would also allow companies or individuals to swap items or equipment, with commissioners’ approval. Again, these deals could be struck without public notice.
While we believe the county could use more flexibility, the proposal offered Monday appears to be an invitation for trouble. Letting a single county employee negotiate a private sale for a $29,000 piece of equipment without public notice strikes us as irresponsible – especially since the county requires department heads to seek purchase orders from the manager to buy anything worth $500 or more.
We agree with County Manager Jim Varner, who said he liked to see the public have a chance to purchase the things their tax dollars bought.
If periodic auctions aren’t returning the maximum value for county surplus, the answer is not to exclude the public and strike secret deals with select individuals. We commend commissioners for sending the plan back for more thoughtful consideration.
Lottery plans
There’s a lottery, but where are details on the next step?
The N.C. Education Lottery has been in full gear in this state for just a little more than a couple of weeks and already the state is bringing in significant revenue.
Millions of tickets have been bought since the March debut, with hundreds of residents claiming prizes in the new scratch-off games.
It doesn’t look like the pace is going to slow down anytime soon.
Many in the state are already chomping at the bit for the debut of the Powerball sometime in the near future. With the popularity of the scratch-offs, there is no telling what kind excitement pots in the $100 million range will bring.
But while state leaders are patting themselves on the backs for being smart enough to come up with the idea on how to secure more funding for the schools, they should be thinking seriously about another issue.
What is going to happen to all the money that is being raised and how will it be divided?
Few school districts in this state are not already counting the money they will receive as a result of the lottery sales. They might say they are not counting their chickens before they are hatched, but they are.
So, before the first disbursement, and well before the excitement gets too out of control, state leaders should set guidelines for how it will be spent, and then communicate those plans to the schools.
Although there have been discussions already, and a parameter has been outlined, there is still work to be done to set the rules in stone, and that is absolutely necessary if the lottery is going to continue to be good news for schools.
Whether you were for or against the lottery, it is here. Now that it is a reality, the way to make sure it is handled properly is to demand a definitive plan from state leaders. Now is the time to ask for those standards.
Reprinted with permission from the Goldsboro News-Argus.