City Hall's $19 Million Oops Violation

By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 19, 2010 5:40PM

It was a rough week for the folks who keep up Daley Plaza. Besides the off-color Blackhawks tribute, someone also flew the flag of India upside down. But those pale in comparison to the "oops" that was uncovered at City Hall this week. An audit of City Hall's spending conducted by Inspector General Joseph Ferguson revealed potentially $19 million in spending violations by City Hall in the year from Nov. 1, 2006 to October 31, 2007.

Roughly $14.2 million in vouchers were not exempt from the Illinois Municipal Purchasing Act and involved goods and services that should have been the subject of competitive bidding requirements.

Another $5.5 million in purchases violated the city’s own internal policy for the use of direct vouchers. There were existing contracts that should have been used, but were not.

The audit resulted in the City allegedly strengthening their voucher process and promising transparency by posting voucher payments on the interwebz. No word on what kind of wrist-slap those involved in the voucher payments would receive.