PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Administration Tuesday announced that, through competitive bidding, it has slashed the state’s costs for physical records management by 70 percent.
The contract just awarded to incumbent vendor Capital Records Management Center Inc. for storage and retrieval of paper records is projected to save taxpayers $3.5 million over five years.
“This is another grand slam for Rhode Island taxpayers,” said Brian P. Stern, who oversees the department’s Division of Purchases. “Once again, the state has achieved major savings simply by putting our business out to bid.”
Under the current contract, the state’s costs for paper storage have averaged close to $1 million per year; under the new contract, they are expected to run less than $250,000 each year.
“Not only will these savings help cash-strapped service agencies across state government,” Stern said, “but we specifically wired into the contract the ability for all state branches, including the General Assembly and the Judiciary, and all Rhode Island municipalities … and school districts to take advantage of the pricing found in this new contract.”
The state’s request for proposals (RFP), issued in May, spurred seven companies to vie for the contract just awarded and another 13 for the similar electronic records contract now under consideration.
A review team, led by Dan Majcher of the Governor’s Fiscal Fitness/Big Audit Program, evaluated each proposal on both cost and technical issues. “In this case, there were two bidders that stood out among the rest,” Majcher said, “but after a fair and competitive process, the state’s existing vendor was the best choice.”
