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LaPorte County considers new copier contracts as color printing drives up costs
Summary
County staff reviewed competing proposals from ITG and Kemp's to centralize and modernize copier service; staff reported current allowances and recent meter counts, and vendors proposed different equipment mixes and job‑accounting options to reduce color overuse.
LaPorte County councilors and commissioners heard competing proposals for copier and printer maintenance at a joint workshop, as staff said printing volumes and color usage have pushed the county past current contract allowances.
Sergio Castro of ITG proposed a plan that would standardize approximately 24 larger devices, offer a pay‑per‑actuals billing model and lock service pricing for a negotiated term. "We don't want to go ahead and increase those rates every year," Castro said, describing ITG's service‑level commitments and on‑site response intentions.
Aaron Sanderson of Kemp's Office City, the long‑standing incumbent, presented five‑year historical billing data and recommended updating older, unsupported machines to lower per‑page costs and improve security patches and firmware updates. Sanderson said replacing end‑of‑life machines would reduce the vendor's exposure to unsupported parts and allow lower contract pricing.
County staff provided usage and allowance details: the current contract covers 2.3 million black‑and‑white pages and 400,000 color pages; over a recent 12‑month window staff reported approximately 2,005,795 black‑and‑white pages and 476,391 color pages, which would have generated color overages under the current allowance. Vendors and staff discussed job‑accounting software and user codes to limit unnecessary color printing, loaner machines during service, staggered equipment purchases to fit budgets, and options to centralize some devices to reduce total machine counts.
Cost figures discussed in the workshop included an ITG cash‑price estimate presented during the meeting (about $136,100 in combined equipment cash cost, as shown in the vendor materials) and Kemp's proposals to add eight new machines under two allowance scenarios (presented totals in the vendor materials). No contract award occurred; staff said commissioners will have to sign any final agreements and that they will review proposals in the course of budgeting.
Next steps: staff will continue evaluating the proposals, incorporate departmental feedback and prepare contract recommendations for the commissioners. The maintenance committee requested vendor follow‑up on job‑accounting capabilities and a map of proposed device placements.
