[Amended 8-31-2005 by L.L. No. 5-2005[1]]
There shall be a Department of Administration
and Finance, the head of which shall be the Mayor of the City of Lackawanna
or any other person qualified by training and experience in governmental
administration and finance appointed by the Mayor to serve as director
for a term of two years and which shall be one of the division heads
within this department. The Director of Administration and Finance
so appointed shall serve without any additional compensation. Within
the department there shall be the following divisions:
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law provided for
an effective date of 7-1-2006.
A.
Within the Department of Administration and Finance
there shall be a Bureau of Personnel, the head of which shall be the
Civil Service Commission. Each member of the Commission shall be a
qualified elector of the City, shall be known to be in sympathy with
the merit principle as applied to civil service, shall neither hold
nor be a candidate for any other public office or position, and shall
not be a member of any local, state or national committee of a political
party or an officer in any partisan political club or organization.
B.
The Civil Service Commission shall be constituted,
empowered and appointed pursuant to law. It shall appoint a secretary
of the Commission.
(1)
The secretary shall serve as supervisor of personnel
without additional compensation, and as such he or she shall advise
and assist the Director with respect to City personnel problems.
(2)
Under the direction and supervision of the Civil Service
Commission, the secretary shall assist the commission in the administration
of the Civil Service Law and rules in and for the City, and shall:
(a)
Hold competitive examinations for all appointments
in the classified services in and for the City, restricted to persons
reasonably qualified to perform the duties of the position;
(b)
Give wide publicity through all appropriate
channels in each and every case to all announcements of competitive
examinations to the end of encouraging qualified persons to take such
examinations;
(c)
Prepare and recommend to the Civil Service Commission
such rules as he or she may consider necessary, appropriate or desirable
to carry out the provisions of this section;
(d)
Prepare, install, and maintain a classification
plan based on the duties, authority and responsibility of positions
in the City service;
(e)
Prepare and maintain a pay plan in the City
service;
(f)
Establish and maintain a roster of all persons
in municipal service setting forth, as to each officer and employee:
(g)
Certify all payrolls for persons in the municipal
service; provided that no payment for personal service to any person
in the civil service of the City shall be made unless the payroll
voucher bears the certification of the Secretary or his or her authorized
agent that the person mentioned therein has been appointed and employed
in accordance with the provisions of this section;
(h)
Investigate periodically the operation and effect
of the personnel provisions of this Charter and all rules promulgated
thereunder, and report annually his or her findings and recommendations
to the Mayor and Council;
(i)
Develop and establish training and educational
programs for persons in the City service;
(j)
Perform such other and different lawful acts
or functions as he or she may deem desirable or necessary to enforce
the purposes and provisions of this Chapter.
Within the Department of Administration and
Finance there shall be a Bureau of Purchasing, the head of which shall
be the City Purchasing Agent. The Bureau shall:
A.
Purchase, store and distribute all supplies, materials
and equipment and contract for all services (other than public work
contracts let to bids) required by any department;
B.
Establish and enforce specifications with respect
to such services, supplies, materials and equipment;
C.
Inspect or supervise the inspection of all deliveries
of supplies, materials and equipment and the rendition of contractual
services and determine their quality, quantity and conformance with
specifications;
D.
Have charge of any and all central storerooms and
warehouses which may be established;
E.
Transfer to or between departments, offices and agencies
and from or to central stores, such supplies, material and equipment
as need appears, and arrange for the sale of surplus or obsolete items
thereof, subject to this Charter and ordinances;
Within the Department of Administration and
Finance there shall be a Division of Accounts and Control, the head
of which shall be the City Comptroller. The Division shall:
A.
Develop, maintain and enforce a uniform system of
accounts, including forms, standards and procedures for all departments
of the City government;
B.
Maintain and operate the City's central bookkeeping
and accounting records according to sound accounting principles, including
such records and reports as may be prescribed or approved by the Director
for the determination of the cost of performance of each function
or program or activity, measured in such work units as may be appropriate
thereto;
C.
Preaudit all bills, claims and demands against the
City, including payrolls, and require each department head to certify
that the materials, supplies or equipment have been received and accepted
as specified and that the services have been duly rendered;
D.
Require reports of receipts and disbursements from
each department to be made daily or at such intervals as will most
efficiently protect the public interest;
E.
Install, operate and maintain a central payroll system
and all social security, pension and insurance records for personnel
of all departments;
F.
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, including an encumbrance
system of budget operations;
G.
Review each proposed expenditure and commitment to
be made on behalf of any City department for conformity with the Charter
and ordinances of the City; and authorize only such expenditures and
commitments as conform with all of the requirements of this Charter
and ordinances;
H.
Compile budget documents, schedules and exhibits,
and make such budget estimates as are otherwise required by the Charter
and assist the Mayor in the preparation of the City budget in accordance
with this Charter.
Within the Department of Administration and
Finance, there shall be a Division of Assessments, the head of which
shall be the City Assessor. Prior to his or her appointment he or
she shall have had five years appraisal experience and be qualified
as a member in the American Institute of Appraisers. The Division
shall value property for taxation within the City and perform all
other functions of an Assessor pursuant to the Real Property Tax Law
and any amendment, supplement or revision thereof.
[Amended by L.L. No. 4-1982]
Within the Division of Assessments, there shall
be a Board of Assessment Review. The Board shall consist of three
duly licensed real estate brokers who shall be appointed by the Council
for a term of five years, as provided in the Real Property Tax Law.
Each member of the Board shall, prior to his or her appointment, have
been actively engaged in the real estate brokerage business for at
least five years. The Board shall be empowered to hear and determine
complaints in relation to assessments and to act thereon in accordance
with the Real Property Tax Law. The Board shall sit annually for a
period of not more than three days, beginning on the second Tuesday
in January, to hear complaints pursuant to law and to determine the
final assessment of the real property of each complainant and to correct
the assessment roll accordingly. Members of the Board shall be compensated
on a per diem basis not exceeding the rate established for comparable
work by the principal real estate board or boards in the County.
Within the Department of Administration and
Finance, there shall be a Division of the City Treasury, the head
of which shall be the City Treasurer. The Division shall:
A.
Receive and collect property and excise taxes levied
by the City;
B.
Receive all moneys collected or paid to any department,
and deposit all funds received in authorized depositories;
C.
Have custody of all investments and invested funds
of the City or in possession of the City in a fiduciary capacity,
except as otherwise provided by law, and keep such funds, and all
moneys of the City not required for current operations, safely invested
in investments legal for savings banks or deposited in interest bearing
bank accounts;
D.
Have the safekeeping of all bonds and notes of the
City and the receipt and delivery of City bonds and notes for transfer,
registration or exchange;
E.
Make disbursements of City funds upon warrant of the
City Comptroller by an individual warrant check for each bill, claim,
wage and salary payment as approved by the Mayor and not otherwise;
provided that every warrant check shall be payable to the order of
the person entitled to receive same, and shall specify the purpose
for which it is drawn and the account or appropriation to which it
is chargeable, and shall be signed by the City Treasurer and countersigned
by the Mayor;
F.
Keep a full account of all cash receipts and disbursements
by the Division according to the system of accounts prescribed by
the Director, and at least once a month and oftener if the Council
requires, furnish the Council with a statement of all moneys received
and expended, including school moneys;
G.
Receive and collect school taxes when authorized pursuant
to law;
H.
Make or cause to be made searches for delinquent tax
liens and issue certificates of such searches, for which a fee may
be charged as provided by ordinance.
I.
The City shall impose a fee of $25 on any check rendered
for payment and returned unpaid to the City of Lackawanna. This fee
would be effective in all departments of the City that collect revenues.
[Added 4-26-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
The Director of Administration and Finance shall
administer and enforce practices and procedures relating to budget,
purchasing and control as otherwise prescribed by this Charter or
local law.
