East Baton Rouge Parish Officials Loving Auctions

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — East Baton Rouge Parish officials have made $125,581 in two auctions since it began using the online site municibid.com to sell surplus items.

Patti Wallace, the acting director of purchasing for the city-parish, tells The Advocate (http://bit.ly/KvsrQN ) the first auction, which ended May 4, netted the city-parish $124,825 on the sale of 46 items.

Wallace said the second auction earned $756 on the sale of surplus court furniture.

She says the municibid.com website, which caters to municipalities and government agencies, was chosen as part of an effort by Mayor-President Kip Holden's office to use technology to reduce costs and increase revenue.

Wallace says the online site allows the city-parish's purchasing department to cut back on administrative staff and handle the auctions entirely with just two assigned staff.