36 Miss. Code. R. 2-7-207.7
The EPL Planned Purchase Procedure allows an agency to make purchases that exceed the cost limit of an Express Products List (EPL). As the coordinator of the information technology planning effort for state government agencies, ITS works with agencies during the planning process to determine procurements that can be appropriately made using EPLs. The EPL planned purchases procedure is limited to:
An agency using the EPL Planned Purchase Procedure is given authorization, up to a specified dollar amount, to make the identified procurements from the EPLs without further ITS involvement. The approval is issued in the form of a letter from the ITS Executive Director and a CP-1 Acquisition Approval Document. The purchasing agency should retain the approval letter in its purchasing documentation.
Since agencies often make their purchases under the EPL Planned Purchase approval over the course of the fiscal year and to multiple vendors, ITS also sends a Planned Purchases Tracking Form with the approval letter and CP-1. This form should be used to record the date, purchase order number, and dollar amount of each expenditure made under the EPL Planned Purchases approval. This form serves as a tracking tool for the agency, and the agency is required to retain the completed form in its purchasing documentation for audit purposes.
The purchasing agency should also document that an effort was made to obtain a lower price than the published EPL price, since the volume purchased under an EPL Planned Purchase approval is higher than the typical EPL amount. Each EPL has instructions relevant to negotiating volume discounts with vendors. EPL Planned Purchase requests must be accompanied by a minimum of two vendor quotes for purchases up to $1,000,000 and three quotes for purchases over $1,000,000. Additional instructions for submitting EPL Planned Purchase requests are contained on the EPL Planned Purchase procurement form. EPL Planned Purchases with a lifecycle cost above the Director Approval thresholds defined in Section 018-030 require ITS Board approval.
During review of your agency's IT plan, it may be determined that a project might benefit from a Planned Purchase Procurement. If so, an IT Planning Coordinator will contact your agency. To initiate an EPL Planned Purchase prior to being contacted, call Debra Brown, IT Planning Coordinator, at 601-432-8128; contact the ITS Procurement Help Desk at 601-432-8166; or submit a Planned Purchase Procurement Request to ITS Procurement. Additional information and contact information for agency planning is located on the ITS website.
Although the Planned Purchase Procedure was primarily established for state agencies who submit technology plans to ITS annually, IHLs, community colleges, local governments, K-12 schools, and other government entities who have shown due diligence in technology planning and who want to use the ITS EPLs above the default spending thresholds may be eligible for planned purchases. These public entities may submit a request for a planned purchase to ITS along with a copy of their current technology plan in the format required by their regulatory agent. The request should also include detailed information regarding the items to be purchased and the EPL quotations received. ITS will review the plan information and the specific procurement details to see if a planned purchase is appropriate.
Refer to 009-001 ITS Procurement Process Flows for additional information, specifically the flow labeled Planned Purchases.
36 Miss. Code. R. 2-7-207.7