The fiscal year shall commence on July 1 and
shall end on June 30.
The Manager shall compile preliminary estimates
for the annual budget. The head of each department, office or agency
of the Town, including the Chairman of the Board of Education, shall,
at least one hundred twenty (120) days before the end of the fiscal
year, file with the Manager on forms prescribed and provided by the
Manager a detailed estimate of the expenditures to be made by each
department or agency and the revenue other than tax revenue to be
collected thereby in the ensuing fiscal year and such other information
as may be required by the Council or the Manager.
A.
Not later than April 1 the Manager shall present to
the Council a budget consisting of:
(1)
A budget message outlining the financial policy of
the Town government and describing in connection therewith the important
features of the budget plan;
(2)
Estimates of revenue, presenting in parallel columns
the itemized receipts collected in the last completed fiscal year,
the receipts collected during the current fiscal year prior to the
time of preparing the estimates, total receipts estimated to be collected
during the current fiscal year and estimates of the receipts, other
than from the property tax, to be collected in the ensuing fiscal
year;
(3)
Itemized estimates of expenditures, presenting in
parallel columns the actual expenditures for each department, office,
agency or activity for the last completed fiscal year, the budgeted
amount for the current fiscal year, actual amount of expenditures
for the entire budgeted preparation, total expenditures for the current
fiscal year, the requests of several departments, offices and agencies
for the ensuing fiscal year and the Manager's recommendations of the
amount to be appropriated for the ensuing fiscal year for all items,
and such other information as may be required by the Council.
B.
The Manager shall present reasons for his or her recommendations.
The Chairman of the Board of Education shall have the same duties
and follow the same form and procedure with respect to the budget
of the Board of Education as provided in this Chapter for departmental
estimates.
C.
As part of the annual budget or as a separate report
attached thereto, the Manager shall present a program, previously
considered and acted upon by the Town Planning and Zoning Commission
in accordance with provisions of the General Statutes concerning municipal
improvements, of proposed capital projects for the ensuing fiscal
year and for the five (5) fiscal years thereafter. Estimates of the
cost of such projects shall be submitted by each department, office
or agency annually in the form and manner prescribed by the Manager.
The Manager shall recommend to the Council those projects to be undertaken
during the ensuing fiscal year and the method of financing the same.
[Amended 11-2-2004]
The Council shall hold one (1) or more public hearings not later than April 15, at which any elector or taxpayer may have an opportunity to be heard regarding appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year. Following the receipt of the estimates from the Manager and the Chairman of the Board of Education and the holding of such public hearing or hearings, the Council shall prepare a budget and shall recommend the same for a referendum vote pursuant to § C8-5. Following the public hearing or hearings, the Council shall make such revisions in the proposed budget as it deems desirable. Sufficient copies of said annual budget shall be made available for general distribution in the office of the Town Clerk and the Manager, and at least ten (10) days prior to the referendum pursuant to § C8-5, the Council shall cause to be published in a newspaper having a circulation in the Town a summary of the budget showing revenues by major sources and proposed expenditures by function or department in the same columnar form as prescribed for budget estimates in § C8-3, and shall also show the amount to be raised by taxation. Appropriations for construction or for other permanent improvements, from whatever source derived, shall not lapse until the purpose for which the appropriation was made shall have been accomplished or abandoned, provided that any project shall be deemed to have been abandoned if three (3) fiscal years shall elapse without any expenditure from or encumbrance of the appropriation therefor.
[Amended 11-2-2004]
A.
The electors shall have the right to a referendum
to be held on the second Tuesday of May from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
at such place or places as the Council may determine. Notice of such
referendum shall be given no more than fifteen (15) days in advance
by publication in a newspaper having a substantial circulation in
the Town.
[Amended 11-6-2012]
C.
The referendum shall not be effective as a recommendation
to the Council unless at least fifteen percent (15%) of the qualified
electors have voted. If the qualified electors accept the budget or
fewer than fifteen percent (15%) vote, the budget shall be deemed
adopted and becomes effective when an official copy has been filed
with the Town Clerk. If at least fifteen percent (15%) of the electors
vote and the total votes to reject exceed the total votes to accept,
the budget shall be deemed rejected, and the Council, taking into
consideration the composition of the vote to reject, shall adopt a
new budget by June 1st. The budget shall become effective when finally
approved by the Council and an official copy has been filed with the
Town Clerk.
D.
The finally adopted budget shall not be subject to
referendum. At the time when the Council adopts the budget, it shall
fix the tax rate in mills, which shall be levied on taxable property
in the Town for the ensuing fiscal year.
A.
No purchases shall be made by any department, board,
commission or officer of the Town, other than the Board of Education
and the Probate Court, except through the Manager, and all such purchases
shall be made under such rules and regulations as may be established
by the Council. The Manager shall record the amounts of authorized
purchases and contracts for future purchases as encumbrances against
appropriations from which they are to be paid.
B.
No voucher, claim or charge against the Town except
the Board of Education shall be paid until the same has been audited
by the Manager or his or her agent and approved by the Manager for
correctness and legality. Checks shall be drawn by the Manager for
the payment of approved claims, which shall be valid only when countersigned
by the Treasurer. In the absence or inability to act of either the
Manager or Treasurer with respect to the above duty, the Mayor may
be authorized to substitute temporarily for either but not both of
them. In the absence of the Treasurer, the Manager is also authorized
to countersign checks issued by a duly authorized representative of
the Board of Education.
C.
The Manager shall prescribe the time at which and
the manner in which persons receiving money on account of the Town
shall pay the same to the Town Treasurer.
D.
The several departments, commissions, officers and
boards of the Town shall not involve the Town in any obligation to
spend money for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated therefor
until the matter has been approved and voted by the Council, and each
order drawn upon the Treasurer shall state the department, commission,
board or officer or the appropriation against which it is to be charged.
When any department, commission, board or officer except the Board
of Education shall desire to secure a transfer of funds in its, his
or her appropriation from funds set apart for one specific purpose
to another, before incurring any expenditure therefor, such department,
commission, board or officer shall make application to the Council
whose duty it shall be to examine into the matter and upon approval
of the Council such transfer may be made, but not otherwise.
E.
Upon request of the Manager, but only within the last
three (3) months of the fiscal year, the Council may by resolution
transfer any unencumbered appropriation, balance or portion thereof
from one department, commission, board or office to another except
the Board of Education. No transfer shall be made from any appropriations
for debt service and other statutory charges.
F.
Additional appropriations over and above the total
budget may be made from time to time by resolution of the Council,
except as otherwise provided in this Charter, upon recommendation
of the Manager and certification from the Treasurer that there is
available an unappropriated and unencumbered general fund cash balance
to meet such appropriations.
G.
Any board, commission, committee, office, department
or agency for which appropriations are included in the Town budget
shall obtain competitive bids through the Manager for all maintenance
service contracts and purchases. The dollar amount above which competitive
bids are required may be changed by ordinance. Purchases may not be
made from other than the lowest bidder without consultation with the
agency or department involved in same.
H.
Every payment made in violation of the provisions
of this Charter shall be deemed illegal, and every official authorizing
or making such payment or taking part therein and every person receiving
such payment or any part thereof shall be jointly and severally liable
to the Town for the full amount so paid or received. If any officer
or employee of the Town shall knowingly incur any obligation or shall
authorize or make any expenditure in violation of the provisions of
this Charter or take any part therein, such action shall be cause
for the removal of such officer or employee.
