Would you pay close to $2,500 for a chair? The City of Toronto has – 30 of them, in fact.

Mayor Rob Ford said he's "livid" at the decision made by city staff to buy 30 chairs to replace older ones at a cost of $74,850.

"To me it is completely unacceptable and to the average taxpayer it is completely unacceptable," Ford told reporters. "We can't tolerate this, and I'm very upset and I can assure you it won't happen again."

The chairs were bought after city staff put out a quotation request last October asking for the supply and delivery of 30 new chairs to replace historical "Platner" chairs.

Ford said that the city staff member responsible for the purchase is no longer with the city.

City officials would not say whether the staff member was fired because of the chair purchase but only that the staff member left in a "reorganization" prior to reports of the chair purchase surfacing.

The new chairs -- which have a circular metal frame and cream-coloured plush cushioning -- were ordered to be true to the design of the originals.

They are now in the City Hall members' lounge, where meetings and receptions are held.

Coun. Adam Vaughan defended the decision to buy the chairs – which each cost $2,500 – saying they’re part of a larger "architectural composition" and "architectural design."

"We are going to give this building to future generations," he said. "This building is an extraordinary gift to the city of Toronto … we have a responsibility to honour that gift."

Coun. Joe Mihevc said judgement should be reserved until more details are known.

"I think at this point we should suspend judgement and do a due diligence check to see whether this was frivolity at its worst … or whether this is really something that we want to keep the character of City Hall as a heritage building," he said.

Ford said Friday that any future furniture purchases involving heritage issues would need to be approved by councillors on the government management committee.

He added that he would look into the possibility of auctioning off the old chairs to try and recoup part of the cost. So far, one Toronto furniture company has offered to buy them for $100 each.

With a report by CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson