Deltona commission raises city manager's unbudgeted spending limit to $75,000 after heated debate

The Deltona City Commission on Tuesday restored the March 2025 purchasing policy for budgeted line items and voted to give the city manager authority to approve unbudgeted purchases up to $75,000 without returning to the commission.

The change came after a lengthy debate about how frequently staff must bring purchases to the dais. Finance Director McKinney told commissioners that the March 3 resolution (Resolution 2025-25-29) had allowed the city manager to purchase items fully line-itemed in the adopted budget in any amount, set the manager's unbudgeted authority at $50,000 and required any formal solicitation over $100,000 and all capital improvement program (CIP) items to come back to the commission for approval. He said a June 23 consensus vote (not adopted as a resolution) had effectively lowered the practical threshold to $25,000 and that, since July 21, staff had been returning dozens of purchase items to the commission as a result.

"What was passed in March 3, resolution 20 25 dash 29 was for all goods and services budgeted and capital that it's line itemed in…