Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl yesterday announced that they will extend and expand the city and county's joint purchasing agreement, subject to approval by both the county and city councils.

Under the new agreement, the county would continue to jointly purchase commodities, such as office supplies, uniforms and computers, and it will begin the joint purchase of services, such as plumbing repairs, electrical maintenance and waste disposal.

"Our initial joint purchasing agreement was extremely successful, resulting in $6.2 million in savings for taxpayers," Mr. Onorato said.

The joint purchasing agreement went into effect April 2007. As a result of the joint contracts and bids, the county has saved more than $5.2 million and the city has saved nearly $1 million, officials said.

Currently the city pays the county $135,000 per year for joint purchasing services.

Under the expanded agreement, the city would increase its annual payment to $200,000. However, the city also realizes yearly savings of $384,315 due to staff reductions in its procurement department.

If the councils approve, officials expect the county to process an additional 124 contracts on behalf of the city with an estimated value of more than $13 million.