Hattiesburg City Government has a difficult time following the most basic bid laws.

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.

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

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