SECTION 63. POWER OF THE MAYOR ON SMALL PURCHASES.

   (a)    The Mayor, or any officer or employee of the City designated by the Mayor, which designation shall be made and may be revoked in a written form filed with the Clerk of Council, may authorize an expenditure, contract or order not in excess of thirty-six thousand dollars without the approval of the Board of Control. Contracts, orders or expenditures authorized by this section shall be in written form and shall be executed by the Mayor or such other person designated by the Mayor, as hereinbefore provided, but such contracts or orders shall not be effective until the City Auditor, or the Auditor’s duly authorized representative, shall certify and attach such certificate to said contract or order that the amount required to meet the same has been lawfully appropriated for such purpose and is in the treasury or in process of collection to the credit of an appropriate fund free from previous encumbrances. Every contract or order or expenditure made without such a certificate shall be void and no warrant shall be issued in payment thereof, unless the Council shall, by motion passed by a majority vote of the members thereof, authorize the payment thereof. The City Auditor shall not arbitrarily withhold such certificate. Unless otherwise provided by this Charter, the laws of the State of Ohio governing the issuance of certificates of the availability of funds by fiscal officers of municipalities shall apply under this Charter.

   (b)    The procedures provided by the Board of Control whereby heads of departments and the Council and other boards and commissions may request that contracts, orders, or expenditures be authorized and approved shall apply under this section, except that such requests shall be filed with and approved by the Mayor or such other person designated by him under the provisions of paragraph (a) hereof.

(Amended 11-6-18; 11-7-23.)