(a)
(1) The commissioners of a municipal auditorium commission under this chapter shall have, in addition to other powers enumerated in this chapter, the exclusive right and power to make purchases of all supplies, apparatus, and other property and things requisite and necessary for the management and operation of the city auditorium.
(2) In all expenditures which may exceed three hundred dollars ($300), it shall be the duty of the commissioners to advertise for bids and let the work or contract to the lowest responsible bidder, when and if it is feasible and possible to obtain competitive bids.
(b) The commissioners shall have no power in any case, except upon advertisement and to the lowest bidders, to make any contract with any person associated in business with or related within the sixth degree of consanguinity or affinity under the civil law to any member of the auditorium commission, or to the mayor or any member of the city council. Every contract in which such forbidden person shall have an interest, directly or indirectly, shall be null and void.
(c) In any city which has a population between twenty-five thousand five hundred (25,500) and twenty-seven thousand (27,000) according to the most recent federal decennial census, the commission shall be allowed to make purchases of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less without soliciting competitive bids.