[Amended 11-2-2010]
There shall be a Department of Finance, the head of which shall be the Director of Finance, who shall be a person appointed by the Town Administrator. Further organization of this department shall be as stated in this Charter and by ordinances enacted by the Town Council, to the end that the essential processes in the finances of the Town, namely, control and accounts, purchasing, assessment of property, collection of taxes and other revenues and payments may be properly administered.
[Amended 11-2-2010]
The Director of Finance shall be the Town Treasurer, the tax collector and the Town auditor and, subject to the provisions of this Charter and of ordinances enacted by the Town Council, he/she is hereby vested and shall have and exercise all the powers and duties now and hereafter vested by law in town treasurers, in tax collectors and in town auditors, and he/she shall have and exercise all the powers and duties vested by this Charter in the office of Director of Finance and in the Department of Finance or that may be vested hereafter in said office of Director of Finance and said Department of Finance by resolution, ordinance or law and he/she shall have charge of the administration of the financial affairs of the Town.
[Amended 11-10-2002]
The Director of Finance shall have professional experience in accounting and taxation and shall have had experience in professional, municipal or corporate budgeting and financial control.
The Director of Finance shall receive such annual salary as may be set by a vote of the Town Council, unless the duties of said office shall be performed by the Town Administrator.
[Amended 11-10-2002; 11-2-2010]
The Director of Finance shall:
(1) 
Cooperate with the Town Administrator and the Budget Board in compiling the expenditure and revenue estimates for the budget;
(2) 
Collect and receive all taxes and special assessments for the collection of which the Town is responsible. He/she shall have all the powers, rights and duties prescribed under the general laws for tax collectors;
(3) 
Receive all license fees, rents, funds, moneys receivable by the Town from the state and/or the federal government, and from the court and from any department, office and agency of the Town, except as otherwise provided in this Charter;
(4) 
Have custody of all public funds belonging to or under the control of the Town, or any department, office and agency of the Town government including the School Department and the Board of Water Commissioners and deposit all funds coming into his/her hands in such depositories as may be designated by resolution of the Town Council, or, if no such resolution be adopted by the Town Council, in such depositories as he/she may choose, subject to the requirements of law as to surety and the payment of interest on deposits, but all such interest shall be the property of the Town and shall be accounted for and credited to the proper accounts;
(5) 
Have custody of all investments and invested funds of the Town or in the possession of the Town in a fiduciary capacity, and have the safekeeping of all bonds and notes of the Town and the receipt and delivery of Town bonds and notes for transfer, registration or exchange;
(6) 
Exercise control over all expenditures by preauditing all bills, invoices, payrolls or other evidences of claims or charges against the Town, and seeing that budget appropriations are not exceeded by disbursements in any department, office or agency of the Town including the School Department and the Board of Water Commissioners;
(7) 
Pay out the funds by check such payments being made only after compliance with provisions of Subsection (6) above, and authorization by the Town Council;
(8) 
Prescribe and maintain an accounting system for the Town government, and adopt and require standard accounting procedures for all departments, offices and agencies of the Town, including the School Department and the Board of Water Commissioners whose business managers would have access to the same, which accounts shall include the amounts of all appropriations, and the amounts paid from each, and show in reasonable detail the persons to whom and the purposes for which the payments were made, the unpaid obligations against each and the unencumbered balances and require reports of receipts and disbursements from each receiving and spending agency of the Town government including the School Department and the Board of Water Commissioners, to be made monthly or at such more frequent intervals as the Town Council may ordain;
(9) 
Prescribe uniform forms of receipts, vouchers, bills and claims to be used by all departments, offices and agencies of the Town, including the School Department and Board of Water Commissioners;
(10) 
Prepare a monthly statement of all receipts and disbursements in sufficient detail to show the financial condition of the Town for submission to the Town Administrator and the Town Council; it being the duty of the Town Clerk to make sufficient copies for all departments;
(11) 
Prepare as soon as possible and as of the end of each fiscal year, a complete financial statement and report, in accordance with state law, for submission to the Town Administrator, the Town Council and the taxpayers of the Town;
(12) 
Perform the work of buying for the Town pursuant to rules and regulations established by ordinance according to which he/she, or an officer appointed or designated by him/her, shall purchase or contract for all supplies, materials and equipment required by any department, office or agency of the Town, including the School Department and the Water Commission; establish and enforce specifications with respect to supplies, materials and equipment; be responsible for the inspection of deliveries of supplies, materials and equipment to determine their quality, quantity and conformance with specifications; cause to be made and kept current an inventory of all supplies, materials and equipment belonging to the Town; store, if necessary, and distribute all supplies, materials and equipment required by any department, office and agency; transfer to or between departments, offices and agencies surplus, obsolete and unused supplies, materials and equipment, and subject to the approval of the Town Council, dispose of any such, by sale if possible.
Whenever any department, office or agency of the Town shall purchase or contract for any supplies, materials, equipment or contractual services, independently and contrary to the provisions of this Charter or the rules and regulations made thereunder, such order or contract shall be voidable by the Town.
[Amended 7-1-1971; 11-6-1990; 11-5-1996]
All municipal contracts shall be awarded by either: (a) competitive sealed bidding; (b) competitive negotiations; (c) noncompetitive negotiations; or (d) small purchase procedures, as those terms are defined by state law or under such rules, regulations, constraints and exceptions as the Town Council may prescribe by ordinance.
[Amended 11-5-1996; 11-2-2010]
(1) 
Organization. There may be within the Department of Finance the office of Tax Assessor. The Tax Assessor shall be appointed by the Town Administrator with the approval of the Town Council for a term of two years beginning on the first Tuesday of January of each odd-numbered year. The Tax Assessor shall hold no other paid public office or employment in the service of the Town, or of the state or federal government, except that of notary public, Justice of the Peace, auctioneer, call fireman or member of the national guard or air, military or naval reserve. If the Tax Assessor ceases to have said qualifications or neglects to perform the duties of his/her office properly, he/she may be removed by the Town Administrator with the approval of the Town Council.
(2) 
Powers and duties. The Tax Assessor shall have power and shall be required:
(a) 
To supervise and to be responsible for the fixing of an assessed valuation for purposes of taxation upon all real estate and all taxable personal property;
(b) 
To apply to or apportion upon the assessed valuation of real estate and personal property the amount of tax ordered to be levied or imposed thereon;
(c) 
To make and prepare all regular and special assessment rolls and a tax roll for the Town in the manner provided by law;
(d) 
To establish a uniform and equitable system for assessing all classes and kinds of property;
(e) 
To prepare tax maps and land value maps;
(f) 
To give such notices of assessments and taxes and to perform such other duties as may be required by law.
(3) 
Compensation. The Tax Assessor shall receive such compensation as may be fixed from time to time by the Town Council.
[Amended 11-2-2010]
(1) 
There shall be a Board of Assessment Review which shall consist of three members appointed by the Town Council. The members first appointed shall serve for terms of two, four and six years respectively, and thereafter one member shall be appointed in each second year for a term of six years. The Town Council shall make its appointments to the Board each time within one month after the members of the Town Council assume office and shall fill vacancies that may occur on said Board without delay.
(2) 
The Town Council shall provide by ordinance for the organization and procedure of the Board of Assessment Review and for the manner of receiving, considering, and disposing of appeals, provided that the procedure before the Board shall be informal and of a nature calculated to effect justice in as simple a manner as possible, and provided that the requirements stated in Subsection (3), following, are observed.
(3) 
The Board of Assessment Review shall hear and consider the appeal of any property owner concerning the amount of his/her assessed valuation as determined by the Tax Assessor. The Assessor shall attend all hearings of the Board in order to explain his/her valuations, but shall have no vote. The Board shall keep an accurate record of its proceedings which shall be available for public inspection. The Board shall meet on the first business day of the month after the expiration of 20 days subsequent to the date on which taxes become due and payable, and at such times thereafter as may be necessary to hear appeals. No appeal shall be considered unless it is made in writing and is received by the Board not later than the time of its first meeting on an adjourned meeting thereof. No appeal shall be considered by the Board unless the tax levied on the valuation appealed or such portion of the tax as is due and payable, has been paid under protest. If it shall appear that the valuation of any property has been incorrectly or inequitably assessed, the Board shall have power to change the assessment, and shall determine the correct valuation of such property. It shall be the duty of the Director of Finance to make payment of any refund that may be due to the property owner.
(4) 
The taking of an appeal to the Board of Assessment Review, or any action thereon shall not be construed to limit or restrict the right of any taxpayer to apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for relief from any assessed valuation as tax originally determined by the Tax Assessor or subsequently by the Board of Assessment Review.