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Sunday, December 04, 2005
Ind. Gov't. - Lake County printing contracts questioned
The Gary Post-Tribune has a story today by John Byrne that begins:
CROWN POINT — Companies vying for lucrative annual Lake County government printing contracts have been bidding on work they will never be asked to perform.The three companies that applied to the County Board of Commissioners for the 2006 contracts bid on at least two work orders to print forms that have not been used in years.
The discovery has spurred the Commissioner’s Office to undertake a wholesale audit of dozens of 2006 county bids, to look for other oversights that could give an unfair advantage to a firm that knows it will not be asked to fill a particular order.
The outdated bid sheets for 2006 appear to have benefited Haywood Printing Inc., a Lafayette company that has had the county printing contract for the past several years.
Haywood’s bids on two orders to print three-ply paper offense reports for the Lake County Sheriff’s Department totaled $140.
The next lowest bidder, A-1 Union Graphics Inc. of Hammond, bid $2,240, 16 times higher than Haywood’s quote.
The third bidder, P & H Printing Etc. of Whiting, gave a quote of $4,480 to the county for the work.
Asked about possible reasons for the discrepancy, Lake County Police Cmdr. Dennis Heaps said the department has not used the paper forms since 2003, when the switch was made to computerized offense reports.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 4, 2005 08:44 AM
Posted to Indiana Government