The Purchasing Department, as provided for in the City Charter, is responsible for all aspects of the City's centralized procurement process. Its objective is to acquire needed goods and services as efficiently and as inexpensively as possible, while assuring fair and equal opportunity to all qualified vendors. The Purchasing Department's primary function is to assist other City Departments in their procurement efforts, securing materials and services which meet necessary standards. Concurrently, the Purchasing Department monitors all procurement to ascertain compliance with applicable laws.

Purchasing is organized as follows:

• The Goods and Services Division, which buys most of the items and services used by the City.
• The Purchasing Systems Administration Division, which performs computer and financial systems support; schedules all bid openings; generates bid and resolution documentation; and sells used materials and equipment.
• The Inventory and Stores Section, which provides the materials necessary to support City operations in an efficient manner utilizing mechanisms to guide, control, and account for its inventories.
• Organizational Chart