(A) No contract shall be made by the City Council or any committee or member thereof or by an officer or any department, whether the object of the expenditure has been ordered or not, unless an appropriation has been previously made concerning that expense, except as otherwise expressly provided. Any contract made, or any expense otherwise incurred, in violation of the provisions of this section shall be null and void as to the city, and no money belonging thereto shall be paid on account thereof. However, pending the passage of the annual appropriation ordinance for any fiscal year, the City Council may authorize heads of departments or other separate agencies of the city to make necessary expenditures for the support thereof upon the basis of the appropriations of the preceding fiscal year. However, if it is determined by two-thirds vote of the City Council then holding office at a regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council that it is expedient and in the best public interest to begin proceedings for the construction of a needed public work, then the provisions of this section shall not apply to the extent that the City Council may employ or contract for professional services necessary for the planning and financing of such public work.
(B) Notwithstanding any provision of this Code to the contrary, the City Council may make contracts for a term exceeding one year and not exceeding the term of the Mayor holding office at the time the contract is executed, relating to:
(1) The employment of a municipal manager, administrator, engineer, health officer, land planner, finance director, attorney, police chief or other officer who requires technical training or knowledge;
(2) The employment of outside professional consultants such as engineers, doctors, land planners, auditors, attorneys, or other professional consultants who require technical training or knowledge;
(3) The provision of data processing equipment and services; or
(4) The provision of services which directly relate to the prevention, identification or eradication of disease.
In such case the City Council shall include in the annual appropriation ordinance for each fiscal year, an appropriation of a sum of money sufficient to pay the amount which, by the terms of the contract, is to become due and payable during the current fiscal year.
(C) This section shall not apply to municipalities operating under special charters.
(D) In order to promote orderly collective bargaining relationships, to prevent labor strife, and to protect the interests of the public and the health and safety of the citizens of the state, this section shall not apply to multi-year collective bargaining agreements between public employers and exclusive representatives governed by the provisions of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.
(E) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the corporate authorities of any municipality may enter into multi-year collective bargaining agreements with exclusive representatives under the provisions of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act.
(F) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, the corporate authorities of any municipality may enter into any multi-year contract or otherwise associate for any term under the provisions of Section 10 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution or the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act, being ILCS Ch. 220, § 1 et seq.
(ILCS Ch. 65, Act 5 § 8-1-7) (‘69 Code, § 2- 11)