[Amended 6-9-1992 by Ord. No. 16-6-92]
There is hereby established a Department of Finance, the head of which shall be the Director of Finance.
A.
The head of the Department of Finance shall be 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. Unless and until the Council shall by resolution authorize the appointment of a special director, the Manager shall serve as Director of Finance without additional compensation.
B.
The Director of Finance shall:
(1)
Be the chief financial officer of the Township.
(2)
Supervise the work of the Department and its divisions.
(3)
Be responsible for the accounting, preauditing, control, receipt, custody and disbursement of Township revenues and expenditures and for all fiscal matters and financial policies of the municipality.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection B(4), which listed additional positions the Director of Finance could fill temporarily and which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 6-9-1992 by Ord. No. 16-6-92.
A.
The head of the Division of the Treasury shall be the Township Treasurer, who shall be appointed by the Manager for a term of three years from the first day of July of the year of his appointment and until his successor is appointed and qualified.
B.
The Treasurer shall have, perform and exercise all of the functions, powers and duties prescribed by general law and Township ordinance. He shall:
(1)
Keep and maintain books and records of all financial transactions of the Township in accordance with the standards and requirements of the Division of Local Government in the Department of the Treasury of the State of New Jersey.
(2)
Have custody of all public moneys of the Township and make monthly reports to the Director of Finance of all receipts, expenditures, commitments and unexpected appropriations.
(3)
Control all expenditures to assure that budget appropriations are not exceeded.
(4)
Have custody of all investments and invested funds of the Township or in possession of the Township in a fiduciary capacity, except as otherwise provided by law, and keep such funds and all moneys of the Township not required for current operations safely invested or deposited in interest-bearing accounts as may be recommended by the Manager (and by consent of Council).
C.
All moneys received from any source by or on behalf of the Township or any department, division, board, office or agency, except as otherwise provided by ordinance, shall be paid to the Treasurer, who shall, by the next ensuing bank day after their receipt, deposit them to the credit of the Township in the authorized depository of the Township to the credit of the proper account.
D.
Payment of claims. All claims for the payment of money shall be presented, approved and paid in accordance with the following procedure:
[Amended 2-3-1976 by Ord. No. 1-1-76; 8-3-1976 by Ord. No. 20-9-76: 1-3-1978 by Ord. No. 1-1-78; 12-18-1979 by Ord. No. 47-12-79]
(1)
Manner of presentation. All claims for the payment of money shall be made by the claimant upon the appropriate voucher and shall be approved or disapproved in accordance with the procedures hereinafter set forth. No claim shall be paid unless the claimant shall first present a detailed bill of items or demand specifying particularly how the bill or demand is made up, with the certification of the claimant that it is correct, said bill or demand and certification to be attached to the voucher. No claim shall be paid unless the voucher has attached to it a certification of a department head, or of his duly designated representative having personal knowledge of the facts, that the goods have been received by or the services rendered to the Township and that those goods or services are consistent with prior authorization or authorizations. Each voucher shall bear the signature of the Treasurer, certifying that there exists a line item appropriation against which the claim shall be charged. The Treasurer shall also certify that there are sufficient funds available for the payment of the voucher. No voucher shall be paid unless the aforementioned certifications are attached to said voucher or vouchers.
(2)
Approval by administrative officer authorized. The Township Manager is hereby delegated the power to approve or disapprove claims and when so acting he shall bear the title Certifying and Approval Officer pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:5-17. The duties of the Certifying and Approval Officer shall be the following:
(a)
The Certifying and Approval Officer shall approve claims only in conformity with the procedures established in § 3-40D(3) hereinbelow.
(b)
The Certifying and Approval Officer shall determine that there is a certification of the availability of funds to pay said claim as required by law.
(c)
The Certifying and Approval Officer shall determine that there is legal authority subjecting the Township to liability for the payment of the claim.
(d)
The Certifying and Approval Officer shall take all steps necessary to ascertain the validity of any claim presented and the reasonableness of the sum claimed.
(3)
Procedure for certifying and approving claims. The following procedure shall be followed by the Certifying and Approval Officer when acting upon claims duly presented:
(a)
A list of claims approved by the Certifying and Approval Officer shall be prepared which shall contain the name of the vendor or party claiming payment, the amount of the claim authorized to be paid, a brief description of the goods or services received by the Township and a certification by the Certifying and Approval Officer as follows:
I hereby certify that the attached list of claims has been approved by me for payment. I further certify that a Township officer or employee has certified that the above-described goods or services have been received by Evesham Township, and that sufficient funds are available to pay said claim. | |
Certifying and Approval Officer |
(b)
The certified list of claims approved by the Certifying and Approval Officer shall be delivered to each member of the Township Council at a location in the Municipal Building designated by the Township Manager for the delivery of mail, memoranda and other printed matter to Council members on or before the close of business Friday.
(c)
Funds may be disbursed in payment of approved claims at any time following 12:00 noon of the Wednesday next following delivery of the certified list of claims to the Township Council as aforesaid, unless any member or members of Council shall object in writing to the payment of a particular claim or claims. Such objection shall identify the claim or claims objected to and the basis therefor and shall be delivered personally to the Township Manager or his secretary.
[Amended 9-3-1991 by Ord. No. 46-9-91]
(d)
Upon the delivery of a written objection, the matter shall be placed upon the legislative agenda of the Council unless the objection is withdrawn by the member of Council so objecting. The Council may disapprove the claim at its meeting by majority vote of its membership. In the event that the claim is not so disapproved, the claim shall be paid as a matter of course.
(4)
Manner of payment. All warrants for the disbursement of Township money shall be drawn on the Township Treasury, signed by the Township Manager and countersigned by the Township Treasurer.
(5)
Interim payments. Whenever a voucher approved provides for a discount if paid prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting or special meeting of the Township Council or involves a progress payment on a contract theretofore approved by the Council, or where there exist other circumstances which may justify immediate action by the Township Manager, the Township Manager may draw a warrant on the Township Treasury and pay such voucher, provided that:
(a)
A majority of the Township Council orally approves of the payment of the voucher.
(b)
The claim was incurred within the scope of prior specific or general authority from the Township Council.
(c)
The claim and related documents are available for public inspection in the Township Clerk's Office.
(d)
A report of all claims so paid is submitted to the Council with a notification of the majority's approval at the next ensuing regular meeting.
(6)
Exceptions. The Township Manager, without employing the procedure required by Subsection D(2), (3) and (5) of this section, but in accordance with established Township procedures, shall be permitted to take the following actions:
(a)
Disburse Township funds from trust accounts, except that the Township Council shall approve or disapprove the return of unencumbered cash balances in said accounts to the appropriate entity or entities.
(b)
Pay to the appropriate entities the following items.
[2]
Federal withholding taxes and social security taxes.
[3]
School, county and library taxes and any other taxes which the Township is obligated by law to pay.
[4]
Public assistance.
[5]
Pension and annuity fund deductions from salaries, union dues deductions from salaries and wage attachment and garnishment deductions from salaries.
[6]
Postal charges.
[7]
Motor fuel purchases for Township vehicles.
[Added 4-16-1991 by Ord. No. 18-4-91]
(c)
Pay to the appropriate entity or entities regular insurance premiums, provided that the insurance premium rate and the insurer are approved by the Township Council in the regular course of municipal business prior to the first payment of said premium or premiums.
(e)
Utilize the Township petty cash funds which are established by resolution of the Township Council.
(f)
Pay on a regular basis to the appropriate entities the principal and interest with respect to bonds and notes and other Township financial obligations, provided that the total amount of the principal and interest and the form of the financial obligation are approved by the Township Council in the regular course of municipal business prior to the first payment of said principal and interest.
E.
Payment to nonprofit organizations.
[Added 2-7-2006 by Ord. No. 5-2-2006]
(1)
Purpose and intent. It is the purpose and intent of this section to require nonprofit organizations receiving funding from the Township of Evesham or in-kind services which are funded by the Township to provide to the Township Council, through the Treasurer’s Office, on an annual basis, a financial accounting and/or audit in a form and in a manner acceptable to the Township’s Chief Financial Officer. The governing body, in meeting its responsibilities to the taxpayers of the Township, must be satisfied that these organizations are spending their monies wisely and in furtherance of their stated purposes and that the funds are, in fact, needed by those organizations for those purposes and are not being used simply for investment or surplus purposes.
(2)
Accounting required. Each and every nonprofit organization which petitions the Township Council for the receipt of funds or in-kind services shall be required, as a condition precedent to consideration of any such requests, to submit to the Township Chief Financial Officer, by May 1 of each calendar year, a full and complete financial accounting of the previous year. Said accounting shall be reviewed by the Township’s Chief Financial Officer, who will analyze same and report to the Township Council and the Township Manager. The accounting shall include, but shall not necessarily be limited to, a balance sheet listing assets and liabilities of the organization; a description of expenses incurred by the organization during the preceding calendar year; an identification of sources of income received by the organization during the previous calendar year; an explanation of any fundraising activities sponsored by the organization during the previous calendar year; an explanation of how the organization used funds received from the Township in the previous year; and anticipated revenues, expenses, and fundraising activities, etc. for the calendar year in which the monies are sought to be received.
(3)
Prohibition against payment of monies. The Chief Financial Officer shall be prohibited from disbursing any funds, and the appropriate department head shall be prohibited from providing in-kind services, to any nonprofit organizations unless the accounting/audit described above has been approved as to form by him/her and submitted to the Township Council and Manager. The Chief Financial Officer shall be permitted to disburse monies upon approval by the governing body; however, the Chief Financial Officer shall be prohibited from disbursing such monies, even if the Township Council approves a voucher, if no such accounting has been submitted and approved as to form by the Chief Financial Officer.
The head of the Division of Purchases in the Department of Finance shall be the Township Manager. All purchases of supplies, materials, equipment and contractual services (except professional services, contractual services unique in nature and not subject to competition and contracts awarded by resolution or motion of Council) shall be made through and by the Township Manager, who, where possible, shall combine the requests and purchase the same in bulk quantities.[2] The Township Manager shall have, perform and discharge all the functions, powers and duties prescribed for purchasing agents by general law and municipal ordinance.