One school district received furniture at no cost. Back to top First come, first served Acquiring items through the state surplus list is basically on a first come, first served basis. During the 30-day period after the surplus list is shown on the Internet, cities, counties, and other political subdivisions may call the agencies that own the items and make an offer to purchase them at the listed price. An exception is that a state agency has priority over a local political subdivision if both commit to the owning agency's price. According to Mike Hay with the State Property Accounting System at the Comptroller's office, although the hard copy is still available, the electronic search mechanism in the electronic list gives users a major advantage over the old hard-bound copy.
Users can more easily search for an item.
A user can enter in the name of a piece of equipment and view a list of all items with the name in the title. With this search capability, a user can readily determine if the item needed is currently available for purchase. A good management practice is to routinely compile a list of items that your various departments are requesting. Then, at the beginning of every month, use the list as a guide to search for those items that your city or county needs. The surplus list rates each item according to its condition.