Butler County lost money auctioning off 47 printers no longer used after vendors were switched.

The auction, which was held Tuesday, brought in $356, but cost $1,061, leaving a $705 deficit.

County Commissioner Leslie Osche said in an interview the auction being in the red was no surprise.

Due to information security issues, the machines' hard drives were removed before the auction. To be usable, new hard drives need to be installed.

Commissioner Kevin Boozel said the auction's loss is part of the overall equation that still leaves the county better off down the road.

“Short-term loss for a long-term gain,” Boozel said.

The expense to hold the auction was divided into the $500 auctioneer's fee and $561 for advertising costs.

The county this year switched from using three vendors — Ford Business Machines, Canon Business Solutions and Van Dyke Business Systems — with 50 separate contracts to one vendor, Xerox.

Under the old contracts, the county bought the machines. The current printers are leased from Xerox.

The company committed to a benchmark of reducing total printing expenses by an eventual 30 percent by the end of the five-year contract.

If the county was not streamlining its printing services, it would pay $13,372 monthly or $160,464 annually, according to a Xerox pricing summary.

Xerox still is in the process of finalizing how many machines the county will use.

Osche said the transition process is moving along without any major issues.

“We have not heard anything up to now,” she said.

Commissioner Kim Geyer said she is waiting for the process to be completed before evaluating the effectiveness of the switch.

Osche agreed.

“We'll continue to monitor,” she said.

Boozel said any transition has “hiccups” along the way.

“There's a matter of implementation,” he said.

However, Boozel said Xerox is providing the information needed to track printing use throughout the county.

“I'm very pleased with the reporting,” he said.

Boozel stressed printing is more accurately recorded now.

County Controller Ben Holland reiterated his support to a switch from multiple contracts and vendors to one.

He agreed that it's more efficient to track printing costs.

But Holland said there are no guaranteed savings at this juncture.

“That has yet to be determined,” he said.

Holland stressed the benchmark is not a guarantee.

“They're not going to absorb liability,” he said.

Boozel pointed out the county can switch to another vendor if Xerox does not meet the benchmark.

During the auction, Ford bought 40 printers — more than any other buyer. Canon bought three. John Cyprian, county veterans services director, bought four on behalf of the nonprofit organization Veterans in Need Fund.

Cyprian said at least one machine will be used by Veterans in Need and another is being donated to the Butler American Legion.

He praised Ford for refurbishing the four printers and replacing the hard drives at no cost.

“I applaud them,” Cyprian said.