City auctions going online

By Neil Schulman
Long Branch — The city may soon auction off most of its surplus in a more modern way, online.
At the March 8 Long Branch Council Workshop, City CFO Michael Martin suggested that the city switch to using a site such as GovDeals to get rid of its surplus.
Officials have described it as an “eBay for governments.”

Under Long Branch’s current system, auctions for items the city no longer needs, such as old vehicles or office equipment, have to be advertised in a paper and people need to show up at a scheduled time to bid.

With GovDeals, the city just needs to put the item and description online and anyone in the country can see it.

“I went on the site and it’s interesting,” said Councilwoman Kathleen Billings. “You just say, OK, I want to buy a garbage truck.’” Then you click on the listing of available garbage trucks, and see what is being offered and how many bids have been received.

On Wednesday, GovDeals was offering items ranging from a 2003 Caterpillar Paver, being offered by the City of Denver, Colorado, to a Rolex Watch (current bid $1,950) from Athens, Georgia, that came from police evidence.

Martin said GovDeals takes a commission, split between the buyer and seller. But that’s more than offset by the fact many more people can see the item for sale, making the process more competitive.
“We anticipate getting more money from the items we sell,” Martin said.

City Attorney James Aaron noted that if Long Branch joined the site, it would not be alone. In New Jersey, 253 municipalities, 173 school districts, 17 law enforcement agencies, 23 public authorities and 48 utilities use the site.

While advertisements for the auction no longer need to be printed, nothing can be placed on the site without first seeking permission from the city council.

Long Branch may also continue to auction off a few items the old fashioned way, such as the bicycles the police department collects. City officials say they’d like to see the bicycles go to locals.