Auction of Federal Surplus Vehicles and Equipment Begins Today

SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) today announced that federal and military surplus property is available for sale via the Internet to the general public.  The online auction, being conducted by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and facilitated by CMS, includes items like forklifts, machine shop equipment, diesel engines, electrical and plumbing supplies and other miscellaneous equipment and commodities.

In fiscal year 2009, CMS Federal Surplus received and allocated $33.1 million in surplus federal and military property to more than 1,800 eligible organizations in Illinois.  Federal Surplus property is transferred and donated throughout the year to Illinois local governments, police and fire, school districts, and not-for-profit educational and health service organizations.  When such needs are met, the remaining property is sold at annually at public auction.

"The mission of the Federal Surplus program is to redistribute federal and military assets to eligible and qualifying organizations.  Auctioning the remaining, undistributed items provides a good opportunity for the public to obtain reasonably-priced federal property and other equipment," said CMS Director James P. Sledge.

More than 137 items were made available for inspection and bidding, including: a 1980 Experimental Flexible Fuel Adiabatics Inc. 5-ton 6x6 Kaiser Jeep, a 1989 5-ton 6x6, a 1980 2.5-ton cargo truck, a 1976 International Harvester Wrecker, a Simon Aerial self-propelled lift and a Trane Rooftop A/C Unit.

Preview and public inspection began on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 and will go through Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the CMS Federal Surplus Warehouse, 1924 South 10 ½ Street, Springfield, Illinois.  The condition of property is not guaranteed - items are in used, salvage and scrap condition - bidders are invited and urged to inspect the property prior to bidding.  Unless the sale gets extended, bidding will close on Tuesday November 3, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Central Time.

The sale is authorized and hosted by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).  Interested bidders should register and view a complete listing of available property at http://gsaauctions.gov. 
 
Bids will only be accepted through this Internet website.  A credit card is required for all registered users.  Credit card validation assists in the prevention of fraudulent bidding activity and ensures that bidders are prepared to accept responsibility for their bidding activity and all submitted bids are valid.  This card number is recorded but will not be automatically charged if a bidder is the successful bidder of an item.  For security reasons and to prevent fraudulent bidding activities, all registered bidders are subject to billing address verification.

Forms of Payment are restricted to the following instruments: U.S. currency (no greater than $10,000); bank cashier's check; credit union cashier's check issued by a Federal or State chartered Credit Union; U.S. Postal Service or commercial money order; travelers' checks; properly endorsed United States Federal, State, or local government checks; MasterCard, VISA, Discover (Novus), American Express, processed manually or online through the Department of Treasury's Pay.gov™.  Certified checks, bank drafts and debit cards with dollar limitations and/or requiring a PIN number are not acceptable.  All checks and money orders must be made payable to the General Services Administration.

Successful bidders are to pay GSA by November 6, 2009, and are cautioned that they are responsible for loading and removal of any and all property awarded to them.  To avoid default actions, property must be removed from CMS by November 18, 2009.

The Government reserves the right to withdraw for its use any or all of the property covered by this contract, if a bona fide requirement for the property develops or exists up to the time of the Government's acceptance of the winning bid of the property.  In the event of a withdrawal under this condition, the Government shall be liable only for the refund of the contract price of the withdrawn property or such portion of the contract price as it may have received.

The Government reserves the right to reject any or all bids, including bids under which a bidder would take unfair advantage of the Government or other bidders; also, any payment or identification of a bidder may be rejected if it appears it may not be in the best interest of the Federal Government.  The State of Illinois is not responsible for accidents or loss.  Prospective buyers are urged to inspect for deficiencies.  Deficiencies, when known, have been indicated in the item description.  However, absence of any indicated deficiency does not mean that none exist.  Final bids are subject to approval by U.S. General Services Administration.

For more information about the Illinois Federal Surplus program please visit http://cms.illinois.gov.