County’s contract for legal notices goes to high bidder

By Michael Howell

The Ravalli County Commissioners awarded the contract for publication of the county’s legal advertising for 2016 to the high bidder last week, citing issues of “efficiency and the testimony of some departments” as reasons for paying the higher cost.
The bid from the Ravalli Republic was $2.85 per 100-word folio for the first insertion and $2.70 per folio for each subsequent insertion. The sworn circulation figure for the paper was 2,999. The bid from the Bitterroot Star was $2.00 per 100-word folio for the first insertion and $0.50 for each subsequent insertion. The Bitterroot Star’s sworn circulation figure was 6,876.
Commission Chair Jeff Burrows cited one instance from the Environmental Health Department in which an applicant for a permit did not want to wait a few days for the first legal ad to appear in the Bitterroot Star, which publishes once a week on Wednesdays. He also cited one instance when the commissioners almost missed the statutory deadline for publishing a legal ad because the email order was missed by the Star.
The commissioners voted unanimously to take the higher bid.
The commissioners then voted unanimously to award the contract for display advertising to the high bidder as well.
The Ravalli Republic bid $5.39 per column inch to run display ads. The Bitterroot Star’s bid was $3.00 per column inch for the first run and $2.50 per column inch if the same ad was run a second or third time. Burrows said that he was concerned about the county placing legal ads in one newspaper and display ads in another. The other commissioners agreed.
A motion was made to take the high bid “for the same reasons as before.” The vote was unanimous.