There shall be a Department of Finance, the head of which shall
be the Treasurer-Controller. He shall also be known as the "Director
of Finance." He shall be appointed by the Manager and shall be qualified
by training and experience in municipal budgeting, accounting and
finance. Within the Department of Finance, there shall be a Division
of Accounts and Control, a Division of Tax Collection, and a Division
of the Treasury.
The Chief Financial Officer shall:
A.
Be responsible for the fiscal records of the Town.
B.
Advise and assist the Mayor and Town Council in regard to developing
fiscal plans and forecasts for the Town.
C.
Provide financial assistance to all boards, commissions and departments
of the Town.
D.
Conduct continuous studies and collect data to serve as a basis for
future financial recommendations.
The Treasurer-Controller shall:
A.
Be the Chief Financial Officer of the Town.
B.
Supervise the work of the Department and its divisions.
C.
Be responsible for:
(1)
The accounting, preauditing and control of all Town revenues and
expenditures.
(2)
The custody, receipt and disbursement of Town funds.
(3)
The safety and investment of the Town's funds.
(4)
The management of the Town's debt.
(5)
The development of financial policies for recommendation to the Manager.
(6)
The safeguarding of the Town's financial interests to the fullest
extent.
Within the Department of Finance, there shall be a Division
of Accounts and Control. Under the supervision and direction of the
Director of Finance, the Division shall:
A.
Develop, maintain and enforce a uniform system of accounts, including
forms, standards and procedures for all departments of the Town government.
Any uniform system of accounts shall include appropriate provisions
for such records and reports as may be prescribed or approved by the
Manager for the determination of the cost of performance of each functional
program or activity, measured in such work units as may be appropriate
thereto, and for such data, records and reports as may be prescribed
or approved by the Manager for the preparation and execution of a
budget for the expenditure of public funds for capital purposes to
give effect to general improvement programs.
B.
Maintain and operate the Town's central bookkeeping and accounting
records according to sound accounting principles and in accordance
with the requirements of the Director of the State Division of Local
Finance.
C.
Audit all receipts and disbursements of the Town government and of
each of its departments and preaudit all bills, claims and demands
against the Town, including payrolls, and require each department
head to certify that any materials, supplies or equipment have been
received and accepted as specified and that the services have been
duly rendered.
D.
Control all expenditures to assure that budget appropriations are
not exceeded and maintain such books and records as may be required
for the proper exercise of such budgetary control.
E.
Review each proposed expenditure and commitment to be made on behalf
of any department for conformity with state law, the Charter and ordinances
of the Town, and authorize only such expenditures and commitments
as conform with all the requirements of this chapter.
F.
Install, operate and maintain a central payroll system and all social
security, pension and insurance records for personnel of all departments.
G.
Devise, install and supervise a perpetual inventory of unissued stores
of the Town and install an accounting system whereby the status of
such inventories will be maintained currently; supervise a physical
inventory periodically; supervise the making of inventory lists of
furniture and equipment by every officer, department or other agency
having possession of Town-owned property; devise a system of inventory
records to account for all furniture and equipment and supervise a
periodic counting of such furniture and equipment.
H.
Submit a monthly report of expenditures and balances to the Council
and Manager.
Within the Department of Finance, there shall be a Division
of Tax Collection. The head of the Division shall be the Town Tax
Collector. The Tax Collector shall have, perform and exercise all
the functions, powers and duties as are provided by general law and
Town ordinance. He shall receive and collect all monies assessed or
raised by taxation or assessment for any purpose. He shall keep proper
records and report to the Director at least once a month all receipts
and deposits made by him and shall, in such report, account for all
monies for which he is responsible. He shall keep a current record
of all tax title liens, advising the Director promptly as such liens
become subject to foreclosure under the law. He shall enforce the
payment of delinquent taxes by the means provided by law as soon as
they become delinquent. He shall also serve as Tax Searcher and Town
Improvement Searcher and perform such duties as are prescribed by
general law and municipal ordinance. However, the Manager may appoint,
in lieu of the Tax Collector, any qualified person to the position
of Tax Searcher and Town Improvement Searcher.
A.
No insurance company authorized to issue fire insurance policies
in the State of New Jersey shall pay to a claimant any claim in excess
of $2,500 for fire damages on any real property located within the
Town of Newton pursuant to any fire insurance policy issued or renewed
after the adoption of this chapter and the filing of this chapter
with the State Commissioner of Insurance, until such time as:
(1)
All taxes and assessments and all other municipal liens or charges
due and payable appearing on the official certificate of search for
municipal liens pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:5-11 shall have been paid,
either by the owner of such real property or by the insurance company;
or
(2)
The municipality submits to the insurance company a copy of a resolution adopted pursuant to Subsection B of this section; provided, however, that if an appeal on the assessed valuation of real property is filed pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:3-21, the insurance company shall withhold 75% of the full amount of the lien or charge being contested pending termination of all proceedings.
B.
The Town Council of the Town of Newton may by resolution enter into
an agreement with the owner of any fire-damaged property situated
in the Town to pay in full all delinquent taxes, assessments or other
municipal liens by installments pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:5-19 or for
the redemption of a tax sale lien by installment payments pursuant
to Article 7 of Chapter 5 of Title 54 of the Revised Statutes of New
Jersey,[1] if the Town Council is satisfied that the claim for fire
damages is to be used to restore or improve the fire-damaged property.
In the event of such resolution, a certified copy of said resolution
shall be sent to the insurance company, authorizing the insurance
company to make full payment on the claim to the insured.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 54:5-65 et seq.
C.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, an insurance company may pay proceeds of a fire insurance policy to a mortgagee of the fire-damaged real property when the fire insurance policy at the time of the loss listed the mortgagee as a named insured, provided said payment may not be in an amount which exceeds that due and payable to the mortgagee under the mortgage contract.
Within the Department of Finance, there shall be a Division
of the Treasury.
A.
The Division
shall:
(1)
Keep and maintain books and records of all financial transactions
of the Town in accordance with the standards and requirements of the
State Division of Local Finance.
(2)
Have custody of all public monies and make monthly reports to the
Director of Finance of all receipts, expenditures, commitments and
unexpended appropriations. All monies received from any source by
or on behalf of the Town or any department, board, office or agency
thereof, except as otherwise provided by ordinance, shall be paid
to the Treasurer, who shall, by the next ensuing bank day after receipt,
deposit the monies to the credit of the Town in the authorized public
depository, to the credit of the proper account.
(3)
Be the certifying agent for the Public Employees Retirement System
of New Jersey; Consolidated Police and Firemen's Retirement System
of New Jersey; Old Age and Survivors Insurance System; hospitalization,
medical, surgical and major medical group insurance plans for employees;
withholding taxes; United States savings bonds; employees unions;
and United Fund appeals.
(4)
Supervise and perform the work involved in the negotiation of loans
and the sale of bonds.
(5)
Have custody of all investments and invested funds of the Town or
in its possession in a fiduciary capacity, except as otherwise provided
by law, and have the safekeeping of all bonds and notes for transfer,
registration or exchange and invest or deposit all monies not required
for current operation in interest-bearing accounts as may be approved
by the Division of Accounts and Control.
B.
Within the Division, the Treasurer-Controller shall also serve as
custodian of school funds. In such capacity, he shall receive and
safely keep and disburse all monies raised and received for the public
schools and keep separate accounts thereof, provided that no money
shall be paid out of the public school funds by the Treasurer-Controller
except on warrant signed by the President and Secretary of the Board
of Education pursuant to an order or resolution passed at a stated
meeting of the Board of Education and entered in its minutes.
A.
Submission; approval by Town Manager.
(1)
Any person claiming payment from the Town shall first submit a detailed
statement of the items or demand necessitating such claim to the Town
Manager's office, specifying particularly how the bill or demand
is made up, and a certification of the party claiming payment that
it is correct.
(2)
No bill, claim or demand shall be considered for payment unless the
voucher has attached to it or includes a certification of a department
head, or of his duly designated representative, who shall have personal
knowledge that the goods have been received by or the services rendered
to the Town, and that those services or goods are consistent with
any existing contract or purchase order. The Chief Financial Officer
shall have the authority to audit, warrant and make recommendations
on all claims and bills.
(3)
Following approval of claims by the Town Manager, a list of approved
vouchers shall be prepared and made available to the members of the
Town Council. The Council shall have the authority at the next regular
meeting to question publicly any approved claims on the list. Such
questions and the answers of the Town Manager shall be recorded by
the Town Clerk in the official minute book. In addition, the Town
Clerk shall record all approved claims in the official minutes or
in an appropriate claims register.
(4)
After approval, the claims shall be turned over to the Treasurer,
who shall forthwith prepare the necessary checks for the payment thereof
and have affixed the proper signatures. The checks shall be recorded
in the proper books of account according to sound accounting procedures
and distributed to the claimants.
B.
Disbursements. Disbursements in payment of bills and demands shall be made by the Treasurer-Controller upon preaudit and warrant of the Director of Finance, approved by the Manager, except that payments from the payroll account shall be made pursuant to Subsection C below. Every warrant shall be in the form of a warrant-check payable to the order of the person entitled to receive it and shall specify the purpose for which it is drawn and the account or appropriation to which it is chargeable. Each warrant-check shall bear the signatures of the Manager or Acting or Deputy Manager, or Mayor or Acting Mayor, and the Treasurer-Controller or Acting Treasurer-Controller.
C.
Payroll account. There shall be an account, to be designated the
Town of Newton payroll account, and from time to time the Treasurer-Controller,
upon receipt of a warrant or an amount due such payroll account, shall
deposit the same to the credit of the payroll account, charging the
appropriate budgetary accounts therewith. Disbursement from the payroll
account may be made by payroll checks signed by the Treasurer-controller
alone, or someone authorized by the Manager to act in the Treasurer-Controller's
stead, upon preaudit and warrant of the Director of Finance and approval
by the Manager of the entire payroll.
D.
Travel expenses. Itemized claims, supported by receipts where available,
should be presented in order to obtain reimbursement for expenses
incurred by local officials where authorized to travel by the Town.
Travel expenses shall be reimbursed only in accordance with the travel
regulations of the Town of Newton.
