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LMR July 2023

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86 TH ANNUAL CONVENTION<br />

LOUISIANA MUNICIPAL ADVISORY AND TECHNICAL SERVICES<br />

LaMATS Convention Closeup<br />

As summer heat bears down on Louisiana,<br />

the LaMATS team is excited to gather<br />

in air conditioned comfort at Alexandria’s<br />

Randolph Riverfront Center for the<br />

LMA’s 86th Annual Convention, August<br />

3 to 5! Every year we look forward to<br />

seeing old friends, making new ones,<br />

and sharing the many ways LaMATS has<br />

helped local governments save money<br />

and streamline business practices for<br />

the past twenty-five years.<br />

Mark your calendars now for the scheduled<br />

LaMATS breakout session to be<br />

held Saturday, August 5, at 10:45 a.m.<br />

LaMATS Executive Director Cliff Palmer,<br />

and Procurement Consultant Paul<br />

Holmes, will lead this one-hour “lighting<br />

round” introduction to LaMATS services,<br />

highlighting popular revenue-generating<br />

programs like Insurance Premium<br />

Tax collection (IPT), which returns more<br />

than $25 million annually in owed fees<br />

to the three-fourths of Louisiana municipalities<br />

that participate. Also learn how<br />

our partnership with the University of<br />

Louisiana Monroe provides<br />

free, professional<br />

drone (aerial) imaging<br />

to help municipalities<br />

capture progress on<br />

construction projects,<br />

document storm damage,<br />

or share the fun<br />

of local festivals with<br />

future visitors.<br />

Joining us for our program<br />

overview will<br />

be special guest, Angie<br />

Johnson, Major<br />

Accounts Manager in<br />

Office Depot Business<br />

Solutions in New Orleans.<br />

Johnson brings<br />

more than 25 years<br />

of experience to her<br />

continuing role as the LaMATS/LMA<br />

Office Depot account contact, and will<br />

re-cap the benefits of our Office Depot<br />

partnership, deliver insights into how<br />

Angie Johnson,<br />

Major Accounts Manager,<br />

Office Depot Business Solutions.<br />

LMA members<br />

have been taking<br />

advantage of<br />

the program, and<br />

suggest ways local<br />

governments<br />

can maximize the<br />

value of their purchasing<br />

dollars<br />

in various product<br />

categories.<br />

Through this program,<br />

Office Depot<br />

provides LMA<br />

members both<br />

individual accounts for discount purchases<br />

as well as separate tax-exempt<br />

accounts for local government entities.<br />

The value of LaMATS Procurement Services<br />

(LPS) has grown exponentially<br />

in recent years, due largely to our key<br />

partnership with industry leader GovDeals<br />

and several unique programs<br />

overseen by procurement expert Paul<br />

Holmes. For example, our Surplus Property<br />

Program makes<br />

available for purchase<br />

or disposal all manner<br />

of unwanted property<br />

and scrap materials.<br />

Our electronic bidding<br />

platform is another<br />

popular service that<br />

turns decommissioned<br />

vehicles and under-utilized<br />

equipment into<br />

valuable items for<br />

auction, snapped up<br />

quickly by buyers from<br />

across the country. Together<br />

these programs<br />

generated more than<br />

half a million dollars in<br />

local government revenue<br />

last year.<br />

The Louisiana Joint Cooperative Purchasing<br />

Commission (LACPC), a La-<br />

MATS-administered entity established<br />

in 2021 to negotiate joint purchasing<br />

agreements between municipalities<br />

and numerous statewide vendors of<br />

high-demand equipment and materials,<br />

will have its second annual member<br />

meeting at this year’s LMA Convention.<br />

The LACPC will have representatives on<br />

hand at the LaMATS session to fieldf<br />

questions about the commission’s work<br />

and how Louisiana local governments<br />

can join and benefit.<br />

Finally, as every year, we will be proud<br />

to assemble our close-knit “LaMATS Village”<br />

of corporate product and service<br />

providers in the bustling LMA Convention<br />

vendor area. Meet friendly representatives<br />

from trusted names like<br />

Musco Sports Lighting, Kincaid Recreation,<br />

Government Capital Corp., Gov-<br />

Deals, and more. It’s a one-stop-shop<br />

you’ll be glad you made time to visit.<br />

We’ll see you in Alexandria next month!<br />

by Cliff<br />

Palmer<br />

LaMATS Executive<br />

Director<br />

Palmer leads the Louisiana Municipal<br />

Advisory and Technical Services Bureau<br />

(LaMATS) - a subsidiary of LMA. He can<br />

be reached at cpalmer@lamats.net.<br />

<strong>LMR</strong> | JULY <strong>2023</strong> Page 29

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