Approve the Leasing Option of Copiers from IKON Office Solutions, Inc. a RICOH Company Under the Existing IKON Agreement #9164 (Business Division)

The district's past practice had been to purchase and refresh our school site copier fleet after six years in service utilizing capital funds. Last year, due to legislative changes in the education budget, dollars in capital funds were not available for use and we were unable to refresh our copier fleet as scheduled. We are facing the same dilemma this year. Many schools were forced to retire aging copiers no longer under maintenance contract and beyond repair. These retirements, along with frequent breakdowns led our approved copier vendor, IKON, to suggest utilizing the leasing option in our current contract and offer us a rebate incentive that would assist in meeting the refresh requirements.

IKON offered a 10% rebate toward the current contract purchase price for all copiers leased. This offer equated to $117,800 on 100 copiers. A six-year lease versus purchases analysis demonstrated significant savings utilizing a five-year lease and an extended reduced lease rate offered by IKON in year six. Maintenance costs were included in the analysis. The combined lease and maintenance costs are lower than a Florida school district several times our size and the statewide contract. Additionally, there will be a minimum savings of $15,000 annually in energy as the replacement copiers are ENERGY STAR labeled.

These copiers are equipped with scanning and networking options. The district will be forming a committee to address “right sizing” our copier fleet and networking. Networking provides users the ability to control copying from their desktop, while directing copies to cost effective, large capacity machines.

* Align financial resources to support the district’s strategic goals, * Demonstrate best financial practices

Hillsborough County Public Schools will realize a savings of $3,856,200 over a six-year period.