Local government advocates urge Mississippi lawmakers to consider changes to procurement laws

Local administration advocates urge.

Key points

• Surrounding states such as Louisiana and Alabama have set their limits at $30, 000, and Tennessee has a starting limit that can be rose during certain circumstances.
• Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker (I) agrees that raising the threshold from its current level is needed, especially since the last time it was adjusted was in 2007.
• Inflation and the general rise in rates throughout the board have Barker suggesting a new threshold of $15, 000.
• Expenses that exceed $75, 000 require the entities to advertise publicly through local media outlets for a certain period of time, typically two weeks.
• One of the biggest comments Chain's office receives is that there is a need to growth the $5, 000 threshold.

Local administration advocates urge Mississippi lawmakers to consider changes to procurement laws. By: Jeremy Pittari – October 29, 2026.

Local governing bodies would like the Mississippi Legislature to raise the current $5, 000 threshold for requiring bids due to inflation and rising costs of supplies and services.

Adjustments to Mississippi's purchasing laws for cities, school districts, and counties was the main topic of conversation for the state Senate Accountability, Efficiency, and Transparency committee on Wednesday.

Local governments are required to follow purchasing laws when acquiring goods and engaging services.

Under current law, any expense below $5, 000 does not require the governmental agency to seek competitive bids. When that expense exceeds $5, 000 the city, school district and county are required to obtain at least two written bids.

Expenses that exceed $75, 000 require the entities to advertise publicly through local media outlets for a certain period of time, typically two weeks. Some bidding processes require the employ of a reverse auction process in the bid acquisition. The Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration defines a reverse bid as "an online auction in which sellers bid against each other to win a buyer's business."

Notably, the procurement laws are in place to ensure public authorities are securing the best services for the least expense, given the apply of tax dollars.

At times, a city, county or school district may decide not to take the lowest bid and instead take a higher bid. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as if the entity has knowledge that a contractor with the lowest bid typically provides subpar work.

Tom Chain, Director of Technical Assistance with the Mississippi State Auditor's Office, explained to the committee that there is no legal obligation to accept the lowest bid, but they do have to cite why they created that decision.

"Local governments don't have to pick the lowest cost as it stands now. If they don't pick the lowest cost they have to record in their minutes a detailed calculation and a narrative as to why the lowest was not the best, " Chain explained to the lawmakers.

Citing the reasoning behind picking a higher bid protects the local governing body from potential litigation.

"What we tell local governments is that the person you got to be concerned with is possibly the other vendor who was the lowest and you didn't pick him, " Chain continued.

For context, the two main points addressed during the Senate hearing were the need to growth the $5, 000 limit threshold and the possibility of making reverse auctions an option rather than the rule.

Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker (I) agrees that raising the threshold from its current level is needed, especially since the last time it was adjusted was in 2007. Prior to then, the threshold was $3, 500. He spoke to the committee as the Legislative Chair for the Mississippi Municipal League.

Inflation and the general rise in rates throughout the board have Barker suggesting a new threshold of $15, 000. Making that change will free agencies up to create purchases faster, a benefit during infrastructure repair emergencies.

"The incentive is there for us to be good stewards and choose the most quality, fiscally responsible option. Since we want our limited funds to stretch as far as they can in terms of projects and services, " Barker described.

"When you consider that we haven't raised it in 20 years, when you consider that Louisiana and Alabama are at $30, 000, when Tennessee is at $25, 000 but they have the option to go to $50, 000, we're well behind on this, " Barker remarked.

When asked regarding potential changes to the "lowest and best" language in the procurement law, Hattiesburg Chief Administrative Officer Ann Jones suggested adding more protections for being able to choose the best bid, especially when the lowest bid came from a contractor who has done shoddy work previously.

"It's not necessarily the fact that you didn't follow procurement, it's the liability that you take on if you don't select that lowest bidder, and the liability of the litigation from that vendor, " Jones explained.

She would additionally like to see a faster process than the reverse auction for repairs that could pose a public safety hazard. Jones described a neighborhood in her city that at present has a caved in drainage system. While waiting for the bidding process to play out she worries a child might fall in or some other tragic situation may occur.

"It would be great if we didn't have to wait that long, " Jones remarked. Purchasing Power Through Numbers.

Another suggestion offered to lawmakers for consideration during the upcoming session was adding more avenues for group purchasing.

Mississippi at present has state contracts local agencies can apply as an option to procure certain equipment and emergency vehicles.

Steve Gray, Director of Administration Affairs for the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, would like to see Mississippi consider a system similar to the one at present applied in Alabama. There, the state procures bids for contracts that, once secured, cities and counties can employ to obtain necessary materials for market value or less.

Gray offered the MAS to act as the third party administrator for such a program, with support from the State Auditor's Office.

No committee member voiced opposition to the idea during the hearing, but state Senator Chad McMahan (R) suggested that if such a system was put in place it should not limit the number of approved vendors in any particular category. Regarding the Author(s).

Jeremy Pittari is a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Slidell, La., he moved to South Mississippi in the early 90s. Jeremy earned an associate in arts from Pearl River Community College and went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's of arts in journalism. A week after Hurricane Katrina, he began an internship as a reporter with the community newspaper in Pearl River County. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position at that news outlet where he covered the recovery process post Katrina in Pearl River and Hancock Counties. For almost 17 years he wrote concerning local administration, education, law enforcement, crime, business and a variety of other topics. Email Jeremy: [email protected].

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For now, local government advocates urge Mississippi lawmakers to consider changes to procurement laws remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.