The fiscal year shall begin on the first day
of January in each year and end of the 31st day of December.
To enable the Mayor to prepare the proposed
budget, the head of every department and agency, except the Water
Department, not later than the 16th day of August of each year shall
file with the Mayor and with the Commissioner of Finance estimates
in writing, specifying in detail the amount and objects of expenditures
required in their respective departments or agencies during the ensuing
fiscal year, including a statement of each of the salaries of officers
and employees of such departments and agencies together with a statement
of estimated revenues, if any, to be received in such ensuing fiscal
year. The Commissioner of Finance on or before the first day of October
of each year shall file with the Mayor a confirmation or modification
of estimates of revenue submitted to him, a statement of other requirements,
and such other information in writing as may be required of him by
the Mayor. On or before the 16th day of October of each year, the
Mayor shall prepare and submit to the Common Council the proposed
budget including itemized statements of the estimated revenues and
expenditures of the city for the next ensuing year, and also the operating
budget presented by the Board of Water Commissioners. The Mayor shall
present to the Common Council along with such budget, a budget message.
On or before the first day of November of each year, the Common Council
shall accept the proposed budget as submitted by the Mayor or make
such modifications thereof as it may desire, except as restricted
by § C-66 of this Charter, and on or before said date shall
file such proposed budget or modification thereof with the City Clerk
and the Commissioner of Finance, which statement, when filed, shall
be known as the preliminary budget. The preliminary budget shall be
a public record and shall be available for inspection by the general
public at the office of the City Clerk. On or before the fifth day
of November of each year, the Common Council shall fix a date, time
and place for a public hearing on the preliminary budget before the
Common Council and direct the Clerk to give public notice thereof
at least five (5) days before the date of such hearing in the official
newspaper of the city.
The Common Council shall meet on the date, at
the time and at the place fixed for the purpose of holding the public
hearing on the budget. Such hearing shall be held and completed before
the 16th day of November of each year. At this hearing all persons
desiring to be heard in relation to the budget shall be heard. However,
the Common Council may establish rules of procedure for such public
hearings and such rules may provide limitations on the time allocated
to any speaker.
The Common Council, at a regular or special
meeting held after the public hearing but not later than the 10th
day of December, shall by resolution adopt, or amend and adopt, the
budget, except as restricted by § C-66 of this Charter,
which budget when adopted shall thereupon become the annual budget
of the city for the ensuing fiscal year. At the same meeting at which
the annual budget is adopted, the Common Council shall adopt a resolution
appropriating the various amounts in the budget as approved for the
departments and agencies of the city, and for the several purposes
specified in the budget. In the event that the Common Council shall
fail to adopt a budget on or before the 10th day of December, the
preliminary budget, with such changes, alterations and revisions as
shall have been made by the Common Council, shall constitute the budget
for the ensuing fiscal year.