Hattiesburg City Council unanimously approved illegal “change order,” when State Procurement Law required a new bid

The Hattiesburg City council unanimously approved an illegal "change order" for the Eaton School rehabilitation project in violation of state bid laws.

It all started when Finlo Construction, a major campaign contributor of Mayor Dupree, was awarded a job to stabilize the exterior walls of the Eaten School building. The original contract amount was for $40,978.

There were two change orders for this job. One for $3,600 in additional expenses, and another which was a credit for $18,198.00. This left a balance due on the job for $26,380.  The "final invoice" for this job was issued on 7-8-2015, and payment was made on 7-17-2015 for that amount, with check number 245813. All of this was legal and above board.

Then on 8-12-2015 an illegal "change order" for $40,000 was added to the completed, contract. Once a project is completed with a final invoice, no change orders can be made simply because there is no open project.

Also, State law requires that any contract over $5,000 but below $50,000 requires a two bid process.

This never happened.

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The below documents constitute the legal work that was paid.

These below documents constitute the illegal change order that the council approved in violation of Mississippi State procurement law.