TIPS/TAPS

TIPS/TAPS Cooperative Purchasing Systems
TIPS/TAPS Contract No. 7121809

   

 

About The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS) and The Texas-Arkansas Purchasing System (TAPS)

TIPS/TAPS is available for use by all public and private schools, colleges, universities, cities, counties and other government entities in the States of; Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington (TIPS), and the State of Arkansas (TAPS).

Participation of government entities with TIPS/TAPS, will provide the legally required competition for contracts for commonly purchased items, thereby saving the individual government agency the cost of going through the competitive process. 

Purpose of TIPS/TAPS

•  Provides government entities opportunities for greater efficiency and economy in acquiring goods and services.
• Takes advantage of state-of-the-art purchasing procedures to insure the most competitive contracts.
• Provides competitive price solicitations and bulk purchasing for multiple government entities that yields economic benefits unobtainable by the individual entity.
• Provides quick and efficient delivery of goods and services to those that are not able to command the best contracts for themselves.
• Equalizes purchasing power for smaller entities that are not able to command the best contracts for themselves.
• Assists government entities in maintaining the essential controls for budget and accounting purposes.
• Maintains credibility and confidence in business procedures by maintaining open competition for purchases and by complying with purchasing laws and ethical business practices.

Customer Service

Support Groups for government entities must be “customer service oriented”. Purchasing and materials management must be able to respond to user in  a manner that satisfies the needs of the agency.
TIPS/TAPS staff is available to end users for guidance in making purchasing and contracting decisions.
By establishing contracts for many commonly purchased items, TIPS/TAPS provides a way for government entities to avoid the time and expense of seeking competition for purchases on an agency-by-agency basis.
TIPS/TAPS enables vendors to become more efficient and competitive by reducing the number of bids and proposals that require responses to be made to individual districts.

Financing of TIPS/TAPS

The total cost of the TIPS/TAPS program is funded through a two percent (2%) participation fee paid to TIPS/TAPS by the  participating vendors. The Fee is based on actual vendor invoiced sales.
TIPS/TAPS does not charge any fees to participating government entities.

Purchasing Procedures

• Contracts are established through open competition as prescribed by the laws if the States of Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington (TIPS) and the State of Arkansas (TAPS).
• Purchase orders are issued by participating governmental entities directly to the vendor.
• Purchase orders are sent to the TIPS/TAPS office where they are reviewed and edited by the TIPS/TAPS staff and forwarded to the vendor within one working day.
• Vendors deliver goods/services directly to the participating agency and then invoice the participating agency.
• The vendor receives payment directly form the participating agency.