Johnson County facilities management asked the Board of County Commissioners on Sept. 25 to increase contract authority on an existing term-and-supply furniture contract by $4,080,000, bringing the revised aggregate authority to $7,080,000 to cover the November 2025–November 2026 renewal term and supply purchases for the county’s new health services building.

County facilities manager Lydia Travis said the request is not for additional budget funds but for expanded contractual authority to use an existing contract solicited in 2022 (IFB2022-063). “This item is a request to increase contractual authority for an existing furniture term and supply contract, in preparation for furniture procurement associated with the new health services building,” Travis said.

The county’s existing term-and-supply contract was awarded to 10 vendors in 2022. Travis told commissioners the agreement includes negotiated pricing with more than 40 manufacturers through those vendors and is designed to preserve furniture standards, installation timelines, warranty service and flexibility for asset management. She said issuing a new formal bid would require hiring a consultant, add roughly four months to the procurement timeline and create additional expense for the project.

Several commissioners asked questions about price leverage and logistics. Commissioner Ashcraft said large-volume procurements sometimes yield deeper discounts in a single bid and asked how the county would guard against lost savings by using the term contract. Travis replied that “many of the manufacturers that are available through the term and supply… offered tiered discounting structures based on volume that’s already baked into our term and supply contract.” She also said she would compare the current contract’s discount structure with prior large projects such as the courthouse to confirm parity.

Commissioner Allen Brand asked whether the county would need warehousing and receiving capacity if it pursued a direct-purchase approach. Travis said vendors ship to their own warehouses under the term contract, reducing the county’s receiving and storage burden.

Travis and commissioners clarified that the request is solely for contract authority and not for additional budget appropriation; Travis said staff intends the higher authority for the limited procurement window tied to the health services building and expects authority to revert after the term.

The item advanced as part of the agenda review; no formal vote on final approval appears in the audio excerpt provided. The board’s agenda packet references IFB2022-063 as the underlying solicitation.