In a move to give back to the cities, counties and school districts in Region Five, the National Joint Powers Alliance Board of Directors recently approved a rebate program that will initially turn $539,754.48 back to many of its members.

At its regular January meeting, the NJPA board unanimously approved the rebate program which will affect government entities within Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties. The dollars given back are past membership fees paid by the full-voting members of NJPA.

In addition, starting Jan. 1, 2010, full-voting members who purchase off NJPA contracts will also receive the net administrative fee earned by NJPA from these purchases. NJPA will add these dollars to the member’s rebate account to be used for future purchases.

“I am excited to be able to help our local members in these challenging economic times,” noted NJPA board chair and Wadena mayor, Wayne Wolden.

“NJPA has come a long way during my time on its board. We are very fortunate to have grown our membership to an international level while being able to add value and bring benefit to our local schools, counties, cities, and other government agencies. This rebate program will enable our members to purchase, from our catalog of quality contracts, items that are sorely needed and may not have been affordable until now.”

The National Joint Powers Alliance is a municipal contracting government agency established through legal statute in 1978. NJPA serves over 30,000 members throughout the nation with competitively awarded purchasing solutions from industry-leading vendors.