State Blocks City’s Bargain Deal On Police Cars Spokane Gets Extra $2,600 Bill After Officials Intercede In Arrangement

Spokane will pay $2,600 extra for 18 vehicles because a state agency says the city was getting too good a deal.

The city will pay Wendle Ford $306,671 for 16 Crown Victoria police cars and two F350 pickups.

Empire Ford submitted a $304,000 bid, but backed out Jan. 6 under pressure from the state.

Empire has a contract to sell an unlimited number of Crown Victorias and F350s to the state at bargain prices. The dealership’s offer to sell to the city for the same price violated that contract, according to state officials.

Cities, fire districts and other local governments can buy items from state contractors at state prices only if they go through the State Procurement Office and pay a $100 administration fee for each vehicle.

That fee is required by state law to offset the cost of operating the office.

The city wouldn’t have gotten such a good offer from Empire if not for the state contract, said Pat Kohler, assistant director of the state agency. Ford Motor Co. gives Empire a $200 discount on the wholesale price of each F350 and Crown Victoria because the state buys so many of the vehicles from the dealership, she said.

“It’s fine for the city of Spokane to go out to bid on its own, but if they’re going to take advantage of state contracts, they need to pay the purchasing fee,” Kohler said.

The city buys through the state when it needs only one or two items and wants to benefit from the state’s buying power, said Jim Davis, city purchasing director. This order was so large, the city thought it could do better on its own.

“My contention is the state has no business in this contract at all,” Davis said.

Empire Ford officials would not comment Tuesday.

Tom Parry, fleet manager for Wendle Ford, said the state’s decision is proper, since his dealership doesn’t get the same discount from Ford as the one enjoyed by Empire.

Empire has another bidding edge on state projects, Parry said, because it is minority-owned. As such, Empire can bid up to 5 percent more than other dealerships and still win state contracts.

Empire was the lowest bidder this year to provide Crown Victorias and F350s to the state, so it didn’t need the 5 percent advantage, Kohler said.

Parry said his dealership didn’t bother bidding because “we didn’t think we had any chance of winning.”