[Amended 11-19-1973 by Ord. No. 73-9]
There shall be a Department of Administration
and Finance, the head of which shall be the Director of Administration
and Finance, in which there shall be an Office of Township Clerk,
a Division of Tax Assessments, a Division of Tax Collections, a Division
of the Treasury and a Division of Court Affairs.
The head of the Division of Tax Assessments
in the Department of Administration and Finance shall be the Township
Tax Assessor, who shall be appointed by the Manager for the term of
four years as prescribed by N.J.S.A. 40:46-6.2, as amended and supplemented
from time to time. He shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed from
time to time by a general salary ordinance. He shall have, perform
and discharge all the functions, powers and duties prescribed for
assessors by general law and municipal ordinance. He shall maintain
a current Tax Map of the township as a public record and cause to
be recorded thereon all changes in ownership, block and lot or character
of the real estate assessed, employing for that purpose the facilities
of other departments as provided by this chapter.
The head of the Division of Tax Collections
in the Department of Administration and Finance shall be the Tax Collector,
who shall be appointed by the Manager for the term of four years as
prescribed by N.J.S.A. 40:46-6.1, as amended and supplemented from
time to time. He shall receive such compensation as shall be fixed from
time to time by a general salary ordinance. He shall have, perform
and discharge all the functions, powers and duties prescribed for
tax collectors by general law and municipal ordinance. He shall receive
and collect all moneys assessed or raised by taxes or assessment for
any purpose or by other township ordinance at the direction of the
Manager. He shall keep proper records and shall report to the Director
of Administration and Finance at least once a month all receipts and
deposits made by him and shall in such report account for all moneys
for which he is responsible.
The head of the Division of the Treasury in
the Department of Administration and Finance shall be the Township
Treasurer, who shall be appointed by the Manager for a term of one
year from the first day of January of the year of his appointment
and until his successor is appointed and qualified. He shall receive
such compensation as shall be fixed from time to time by a general
salary ordinance. The Treasurer shall have, perform and discharge
all of the functions, powers and duties prescribed by general law
and township ordinance; he shall 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; he shall
have custody of all public moneys of the township and shall make monthly
reports to the Director of Administration and Finance of all receipts,
expenditures, commitments and unexpended appropriations; and he shall
control all expenditures to assure that budget appropriations are
not exceeded.
A. Receipts and depositories. 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
or state statute, shall be paid to the Treasurer, who shall within
48 hours of their receipt deposit them to the credit of the township
in the authorized depository of the township to the credit of the
proper account.
B. Certification of bills. No bill or claim shall be
paid unless it contains a detailed statement of the items of demand,
specifying particularly how the bill or demand is made up, and a certification
of the party claiming payment that it is correct; nor shall any bill,
claim or demand be paid unless the voucher on which it is presented
carries 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.
C. Audit, warrant and payment of bills and claims; listing
for council.
(1) All bills, claims and demands against the township
shall be deemed approved or disapproved by the Council in accordance
with the action of the Director of Administration and Finance. A voucher
on a form prescribed by the Director of Administration and Finance
shall be presented for each bill, claim or demand and shall be paid
only upon the audit warrant and approval of the Director of Administration
and Finance. Disbursement shall be made by a combination warrant-bank
check or draft warranted by the Director of Administration and Finance
or Assistant Director of Administration and Finance, signed by the
Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer and countersigned by the Manager
or Acting Manager, except that payroll checks may be signed by the
Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer alone upon voucher and warrant of
the Director of Administration and Finance or Assistant Director of
Administration and Finance for a total payroll.
(2) The Director of Administration and Finance shall prepare
for each regular meeting of the Council a list of all bills, claims
and vouchers which have been paid through the close of business on
the second day next preceding the meeting and since the last preceding
list was compiled. Such list shall be prepared in sufficient quantity
for each member of the Council and the Manager, and at least one copy
shall be filed with the Clerk as a public record open to examination
in his office.
D. Receipt of funds from agencies of the township. All
moneys from any agency, board or committee shall be turned over to
the Treasurer within 10 days of the close of each month.
There shall be a Municipal Court Clerk and a
Deputy Municipal Court Clerk of Mount Laurel Township, who shall be
appointed by the Manager and who shall perform such functions and
duties as shall be prescribed for them by law, the rules applicable
to municipal courts and by the Municipal Judge. There shall be for
coordination a set of rules established between this Division, the
Director of Public Safety and the Judge, which, (insofar as the administration
of the Township affairs) shall be approved by the Manager. Their duties
shall include but not be limited to:
A. Carrying out the rules, regulations, policies and
procedures relating to the operation of the Court prescribed by the
Supreme Court of New Jersey, Court administrator or by the Manager
pursuant thereto.
B. Interviewing and speaking to prospective complainants,
receiving complaints and dispensing information relating to Court
matters.
C. Maintaining the financial records of the Court.
D. Attending Court, taking minutes of the trials and
entering them in the docket, arranging trial calendars, signing Court
documents and preparing and issuing warrants and commitments.
E. Taking and preparing bail bonds, making inquiry as
to their sufficiency and equity, receiving and accounting for fines
and costs.
F. Interviewing persons in informal Police Court matters
to determine if there is a basis for formal action and, if necessary,
issuing summonses requiring Court appearances in this regard, maintaining
and classifying records and files.