Jail hopes to save $400,000 with online auctions
McCracken County Jailer Bill Adams plans to shave about $400,000 off the jail’s annual food costs by using a new bidding approach called reverse auctions, he told the fiscal court at a workshop Tuesday. Commissioner Ronnie Freeman has been pushing to try the auctions, an online method of soliciting bids for products in which the bidders can see their competitors’ bids. They can save counties between 3 to 15 percent on certain expenses, according to the Kentucky Association of Counties. Adams said it cost the county about $1 million this year to feed approximately 450 inmates. He thinks that can be reduced to about $600,000 with the on-line reverse auction. “I commend you on your efforts to save money, because you really have done that in every possible way,” Freeman said. State-mandated retirement costs put Adams’ overall budget about $100,000 higher than last year; otherwise, it would have come in about $100,000 lower than last year, he said. The preliminary jail budget is about $5.3 million. |
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