[Amended 9-28-1993; 5-5-1997; 7-1-2003]
The fiscal year of the Town government shall begin on the first
day of July and shall end on the last day of June of each calendar
year, unless the Council, by ordinance, shall establish different
dates. Such fiscal year shall also constitute the budget and accounting
year. As used in this Charter, the term "budget year" shall mean the
fiscal year for which any particular budget is adopted and in which
it is administered.
It shall be the duty of the Town Manager to prepare estimates
of all Town revenues and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year.
The head of each department, office or agency of the Town supported
wholly or in part from Town funds or for which a specific Town appropriation
is made, including the Chair of the Town Board of Education, shall,
at least 65 days before the date of the Annual Town Meeting, file
with the Town Manager, on forms provided by the Town Manager, a detailed
estimate of the expenditures to be made by his/her department or agency
and the revenue, other than tax revenues, to be collected thereby
in the ensuing fiscal year.
Not later than 45 days before the date of the Annual Town Meeting,
the Town Manager shall present to the Council:
A.
Estimates of revenue, presenting in parallel columns the itemized
revenues collected in the last completed fiscal year and in the first
seven months of the current fiscal year and estimates of revenues,
other than from the property tax, to be collected in the ensuing fiscal
year.
B.
Itemized estimates of expenditures, presenting in parallel columns
the actual expenditures for each department, office or agency for
the last-completed fiscal year and for the seven months of the current
fiscal year, the requests of the several departments, offices and
agencies for the ensuing year and, except in the case of the Town
Board of Education, the Manager's recommendations of the amounts
to be appropriated.
A.
The Council shall consider the estimates of revenues and expenditures
and recommendations of the Town Manager of the amounts to be appropriated
and shall prepare a proposed budget. The Council shall cause sufficient
copies thereof to be made available to the public during business
hours in the offices of the Town Clerk and Town Manager at least five
days before the day on which it shall hold a public hearing on said
proposed budget, which hearing shall be held not later than 14 days
before the Annual Town Meeting. The Council shall thereafter prepare
its recommended budget, which shall comply with the standards or requirements
of the State Tax Department, and shall cause sufficient copies of
such recommended budget to be made available for general distribution
in the offices of the Town Clerk and the Town Manager. The Council
shall present such recommended budget to the Annual Town Meeting.
B.
The Annual Town Meeting shall review the recommended budget submitted
by the Council. Action on proposed amendments to the recommended budget
shall be by voice vote or other means which the moderator deems appropriate
unless a secret ballot is approved by a majority of those voting at
the Annual Town Meeting. The Annual Town Meeting may increase or decrease
the amount of any appropriation in the recommended budget and may
authorize an appropriation that is not in the recommended budget.
Any increase, decrease, or addition of an appropriation that is not
in the recommended budget shall require the affirmative vote of at
least a two-thirds majority of the voters voting on such item, provided
that there are at least 300 voters voting on such item.
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A vote pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall be sufficient
to increase or decrease the total amount of the General Government
budget or the Town Board of Education budget, or to authorize an appropriation
which is not in the recommended budget. Additionally, a vote pursuant
to the preceding paragraph shall recommend the amounts by which one
or more specific appropriations, identified by account number or similar
designation, may be increased or decreased to equal the total amount
of the increase or decrease so authorized.
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The recommended budget reflecting any such increases, decreases or addition of an appropriation that is not in the recommended budget, shall be submitted to a referendum of the voters of the Town in accordance with the provisions of Subsection C.
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C.
Unless rejected by a majority of those voting at a referendum of
those persons entitled to vote in Town Meetings, at which referendum
the number of those voting equals at least 15% of the number of registered
electors of the Town as determined from the latest official list of
the Registrars of Voters, the recommended budget as presented by the
Council to the Annual Town Meeting (with any increases, decreases,
or addition of an appropriation that is not in the recommended budget
approved at such Annual Town Meeting), shall become effective at the
conclusion of the referendum. The referendum shall be held between
the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the 10th day after the Annual
Town Meeting. Notice of the referendum shall be included in the notice
of the Annual Town Meeting, which notice shall be published and posted
in accordance with the provisions of Section 7-3 of the General Statutes
of Connecticut, Revision of 1958, as amended.
D.
If the recommended budget is rejected at the budget referendum pursuant to Subsection C, the Council shall meet and shall submit a second recommended budget to a new Town Meeting to be held not later than the second Monday of May (the "Second Town Meeting"). The second recommended budget shall be lower than the budget rejected at the referendum held pursuant to Subsection C.
E.
The Second Town Meeting shall review the second recommended budget submitted by the Council. The Second Town Meeting shall have the authority to increase or decrease the amount of any appropriation in the second recommended budget, to authorize an appropriation which is not in the second recommended budget, and to make recommendations as to specific appropriations. All actions by the Second Town Meeting under this section shall require the same vote and shall be under the same terms and conditions as those which apply to the Annual Town Meeting in Subsection B.
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The second recommended budget, reflecting any such increases, decreases or addition of an appropriation that is not in the second recommended budget, shall be submitted to a second referendum of voters in accordance with Subsection F.
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F.
Unless rejected by a majority of those voting at a referendum of
those persons entitled to vote in Town Meetings, at which referendum
the number of those voting equals at least 15% of the number of registered
electors of the Town as determined from the latest official list of
the Registrars of Voters, the second recommended budget as presented
by the Council to the Second Town Meeting (with any increases, decreases,
or addition of an appropriation that is not in the second recommended
budget approved at the Second Town Meeting), shall become effective
at the conclusion of the referendum. The referendum shall be held
between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the 10th day after
the Second Town Meeting. Notice of the referendum shall be included
in the notice of the Second Town Meeting, which notice shall be published
and posted in accordance with the provisions of Section 7-3 of the
General Statutes of Connecticut, Revision of 1958, as amended.
G.
If the second recommended budget is rejected at the referendum held in accordance with Subsection F, the Council shall thereafter meet and shall adopt a budget for the upcoming fiscal year which shall be lower than the second recommended budget (with such increases, decreases, or addition of an appropriation that is not in the second recommended budget approved at the Second Town Meeting) which was rejected at the second referendum.
H.
Each recommended budget shall be submitted to the voters as a single
question in connection with any referendum held pursuant to this section.
Except as provided by §§ C9-6 and C9-7 of this
article, no official, department or agency shall, during any budget
year, expend or contract to expend any money or incur any liability
or enter into any contract which by its terms involves the expenditure
of money, for any purpose, in excess of the amount appropriated for
that department pursuant to this Charter. Any contract, verbal or
written, made in violation of this Charter shall be null and void.
Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the making of contracts
or the spending of money for capital improvements to be financed,
in whole or in part, by the issuance of bonds nor the making of contracts
of lease or for service for a period exceeding the budget year in
which such contract is made, except when such contract is prohibited
by law.
The Town Manager may transfer funds allocated to an account
within a department from that account to another account within the
same department, provided that the total department appropriation
is not exceeded.
In emergencies or under circumstances not reasonably foreseen
at the time the budget was adopted, the Council may transfer funds
allocated to one department from that department to another department,
provided that the total government appropriation is not exceeded.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to prevent the
Town Council from approving supplemental appropriations in accordance
with the provisions of this charter.
Except for appropriations for capital improvement, whether financed
from current revenues or from bond issues, all appropriations shall
lapse at the end of the budget year to the extent that they shall
not have been expended. Appropriations for capital improvements shall
lapse only when the project for which funds were appropriated has
been completed or the project is abandoned by a Town Meeting.
It shall be the duty of the Collector of Revenue to prepare
and mail each taxpayer, before the date when taxes and special service
charges are due and payable, a tax bill, the form of which shall be
as prescribed by law or, in the absence of law, by the Council.
Except as specifically provided in this Charter, the assessment
of property for taxation and the collection of taxes shall be carried
on as provided in the general or special laws of the state applicable
to the Town.
