Committee debates Amazon purchases and green procurement as staff seek vendor consolidation

Tompkins County legislators pressed procurement staff on June 9 about the county’s increasing volume of purchases through Amazon and whether more purchases could be sourced locally to keep spending in the community.

Finance/procurement staff said they have configured Amazon and Staples to surface preferred items (for example products with recycled content or compostable utensils) and to prioritize small and disadvantaged businesses in search results. ‘‘We try to encourage local vendors; Amazon added many upstate vendors earlier in the year,’’ procurement staff said.

Committee members pointed to trade-offs: convenience and delivery efficiency can cut staff time and costs, but widespread use of Amazon reduces local economic circulation and may increase packaging-related environmental impacts. ‘‘I’m wondering if we could explore more purchasing locally, keeping the dollars here rather than sending them to a large mega corporation,’’ said Leg. Judith Hubard.

Staff agreed to request a consolidated purchase history from Amazon showing frequently bought items and volumes so the county can identify repeated bulk buys that could be sourced from local vendors or procured centrally. They also said they will review contract exclusivity and vendor conflicts (staff cited a past payroll/time-tracking contract example) before pursuing new departmental purchases.

What happens next: procurement will provide a short report (including an Amazon purchase consolidation and annual contract costs) to show repeat bulk orders and opportunities for local sourcing and vendor consolidation.