Marion County is joining a number of counties who are taking a “wait and see” attitude on the state’s new electronic bidding process.
After hearing a presentation recently from Corey DeWitt of PlanHouse, the Marion County Board of Supervisors discussed implementing the new state requirements for taking bids on purchases.
“I’m just concerned that somebody might be able to hack into the system and see someone else’s bid,” District 2 Supervisor Terry Broome said. “People are hacking the federal government’s systems; what’s not to say they won’t do it here?”
The state legislature passed a sweeping procurement reform law this year. It’s intended to save taxpayers money by having a more transparent bid process that drives prices down for cities and counties.
One of the requirements is having reverse online auctions for purchases more than $50,000. In those, companies bid down against each other in an effort to win contracts.
However, there has been some confusion about how to implement the changes and whether they can be completed by January. The Mississippi Department of Information and Technology Services issued a memo saying the state anticipates completing the awards for electronic bidding services by Dec. 15 and will publish instructions then. A Nov. 9 state attorney general opinion said suppliers cannot be required to pay a fee to participate in the public bidding process.
The state does not plan to make awards for reverse auction services at this time and said it considers that to be on hold until early 2018.
Marion County Comptroller Susie Bridges told supervisors that the bids can be handled on the county’s website. She said she already puts board orders there.
Bridges said she has also talked with officials from other counties.
“I spoke with the administrator of Adams County, he’s a real knowledgeable guy and I trust what he says,” she said. “He said they don’t have a large purchase coming up within the next nine months. They’re just going to sit back, watch and see what happens. I was under the impression that we were under the gun to get something in place, but I don’t think that’s the case now.”
Broome asked about what Marion County needed to have in place.
“Vendors to either accept electronic bidding or reverse auctions,” Bridges answered. “You don’t have anything large planned now. We’re talking about two different things. Reverse auctions and electronic bidding. It’s really complicated.”
The Marion County Board of Supervisors meets next in regular session on Dec. 4 at its offices on Courthouse Square.
