Elmhurst Official May Get More Purchase Authority

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst's city manager and department directors may get more purchasing power under proposed changes to the city code.

On Monday, the City Council's Finance Committee plans to consider the revisions.

Under the proposal, the city manager's power to approve purchases would rise to $50,000, up from $20,000. This would be the first increase since 2006.

If the manager's authority had gone up with the rate of inflation since 2006, it would now be $30,673.

The city is also considering expanding department directors' purchasing power to $10,000, from $5,000 now. The last change for directors was in 2000. If their authority had gone up with inflation, the limit would be about $9,000 now.

Anything over the city manager's limit must be approved by the City Council.

Even with the limits, the manager and department directors must follow the city's purchasing policies, which require seeking price quotes.

According to a city memo, the proposed amounts are in line with comparably sized nearby towns.