Naperville schools, city, parks join forces to save costs

Indian Prairie Unit District 204, the city of Naperville and the Naperville Park District are taking part in a pilot program to determine how they can combine forces to get better deals on goods and services they all buy.

“That's the potential where we can go to bid as a group and based on volume, lower prices,” said Dave Holm, District 204 assistant superintendent, business and finance. “We hope out of that we'll have numerous opportunities to see where are some areas where we spend similar.”

The program works by taking a year's worth of data to help governments figure out where they “like spend.” Common categories of items purchased or services provided are identified by noting different codes or descriptions used by government groups when they track expenditures. For instance, a service provider might call itself by different names and have different billing addresses. By recognizing that the company and service is the same, the three groups could bid for the work together to save money.

“We're taking raw data and cleaning it up and adding information to identify ways to work together,” said Jonathan White, U.S. territory manager for Spikes Cavell & Co., which is doing the work. The England-based company is just beginning to work in the U.S. and has partnered with the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, a U.S.-based not-for-profit with expertise in best practices for government procurement. Because the work is being piloted in the U.S., it is costing District 204 $1 to take part.

In another effort to save money, District 204 has entered into an intergovernmental agreement with Naperville Unit District 203 to share printing and copying services through the District 203 print shop on Fifth Avenue near Naperville North High School and at District 204's printing location at the 95th Street Library. By sharing services, District 204 anticipates better service along with a cost savings of up to $45,000. The program will be piloted for one year.

To further cut down on paper and copy costs, District 204 officials also will be looking into ways that teachers and other district employees can cut down on printouts from their computers. Holm said studies show costs could be reduced by as much as 20 percent. Paper alone costs the district about $300,000 a year.