At the April Board of Directors meeting, the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) Board of Directors unanimously authorized executive director Gina Firman NIkkel, Ph.D. to sign a partnership agreement with Public Surplus. Public Surplus is a government surplus online auction system designed for the sale and purchase of a county’s surplus items.

This agreement will provide AOC the opportunity to generate steady non-dues revenue. Non-dues revenues offer a tool for the association to provide members with current and increased levels of service while potentially offloading fiscal impact for membership dues.

AOC members are encouraged to learn more about the Public Surplus auction system and consider adoption of this product for surplus sales and purchases. Use this link to sign-up your county for a Public Surplus account today. 

A History of Public Surplus

The concept of Public Surplus began in 1999 as a response from a large school district in Utah looking to build an internet-based surplus auction system. The district wanted a system to replace the live auction approach used in the past and had little success. 

Intrigued, Public Surplus conducted research in Utah, as well as other states. Noting the importance of assessing the need other public agencies may have for a complete surplus inventory management system, ninety-four agencies, including cities, counties, school districts, and colleges, were contacted for research. It was determined that none of these agencies were in full compliance with their state’s regulations.   Problems were found relating to record keeping, reallocation, and/compliance. Moreover, the processes for managing surplus inventory operations were generally disorganized.

It became apparent that there was a great need that no other private company was filling. An auction system that could manage an agency’s entire surplus inventory operations, while assuring compliance with government regulations, would become a great benefit to the public sector. 

A year later the Public Surplus was introduced to the Utah school district’s purchasing director whose questions started the journey. Since then, hundreds of agencies across the country have registered on the system. Their surplus inventory has become more automated and streamlined making it much easier to manage. The accessibility of the internet, along with the efforts of our Buyer Contact Department, have helped these agencies generate 30-200 percent more net revenue than any other method previously utilized.

Contributed by: Kristen Paul | Association of Oregon Counties Public Affairs Associate and Jacob Holdaway | Public Surplus

*Sponsored content provided by AOC Business Partner.