Interested fire agencies were then sent apparatus specifications and a purchasing profile questionnaire that would later be distributed to the bidding fire apparatus manufacturers. A pre-bid conference, attended by more than 120 people from the participating fire agencies, and equipment and component manufacturers, was held to help ensure the success of the consortium. By forming this consortium, Los Angeles County was able to maximize its purchasing power. The primary expenses were fixed costs such as the time that managers and clerical assistants spent on the program. Although some clerical overtime was necessary, those hours, combined with telephone and postage costs, were less than one-fourth of 1 percent of the total savings realized by the program in one year.
Citizens can also access the survey online through the county's home page.
Seven thousand copies were distributed to county office buildings, libraries, the Chamber of Commerce, village centers, community associations, senior centers and supermarkets. The average cost for each brochure was about 22 cents. Mich. Macomb County determined that many of the smaller governmental units in the county were unable to provide timely collection of delinquent personal property taxes because of limited budgets, staff and unfamiliarity with various laws and regulation. The county responded by creating a department to collect delinquent personal property taxes on a contract basis with most of the local governments. This department performs the collection process of notice payment arrangements, seizure, bankruptcy filings and lawsuits for all delinquent taxes.