[Adopted as Art. 7 of the 1990 Bylaws]
The various City boards, officers, and committees
charged with the expenditure of City money shall, not later than February
28 of each calendar year, prepare detailed estimates of the amounts
deemed by them necessary for the administration of their respective
offices or departments for the ensuing fiscal year, with explanatory
statements of the reasons for any changes from the amounts appropriated
for the same purpose in the preceding year. They shall also prepare
estimates of all probable items of income which may be received by
them during the ensuing year in connection with the administration
of their departments or offices and a statement of the amount of the
appropriation requested by them for the ensuing fiscal year. Such
estimates and statements shall be filed with the office of the Mayor
who shall at once transmit the same to the Clerk of the Finance Committee
or successor entity.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Throughout this article, references
to the "Appropriations and Audit Committee" were replaced with "Finance
Committee or successor entity" 3-14-2006 by Bill No. 2006-008.
The Mayor shall submit the annual City budget,
recommending appropriations for the next fiscal year by organization/object
code or order number, to the Municipal Council no later than May 15.
The Chief Financial Officer shall provide a copy of the Mayor's proposed
budget to each member of the Municipal Council and to each member
of the Finance Committee or successor entity and shall also post copies
of the Mayor's proposed budget in the City Clerk's office and in the
public library for inspection by the public.
A.
The Mayor's budget recommendation shall include, for
each appropriation, by organization/object code or order number, the
specific source of funding for that appropriation and, if any single
appropriation is to be funded by multiple sources, the proportion
of the amount which is to be funded by each source. Sources of funding
may include, but are not limited to, property tax revenues; fee revenues,
specifying the type of fee collected; state aid, specifying the "cherry
sheet" account; state grant revenues, specifying the particular grant
program; state reimbursements, specifying the state program; federal
grant revenues, specifying the federal program; and private gifts.
The Finance Committee or successor entity shall consider the adequacy
of the funding sources and shall recommend decreases in any appropriation
if it finds that the listed funding source cannot adequately fund
the appropriation.
B.
Commencing in fiscal year 2008, the proposed operating
budget submitted by the Mayor shall be a zero-based budget for 1/3
of all the departments of the City. One-third of all departments shall
be staggered every fiscal year thereafter. Said budget shall be subject
to all of the requirements of Sections 5-1, 5-2 and 5-3 of the Amesbury
Home Rule Charter. For the purposes of definition, said zero-based
budget shall start with no authorized funds and shall not be based
on the previous year's appropriations. It shall not be an incremental
budget. The goals and objectives for each department shall be clearly
stated within the operating budget of each department. Each line item
in each department's budget shall exist solely to accomplish the stated
goals and objectives of the department, and the amounts provided for
each department's budget must not exceed a reasonable amount necessary
to accomplish such stated goals and objectives.
[Amended 3-14-2006 by Bill No. 2006-008]
[Amended 7-13-2010 by Bill No. 2010-05]
The Finance Committee or successor entity shall
duly consider the same and may confer with said City boards, officers
and committees and hold hearings if it deems it advisable. The Committee
shall thereupon approve or disapprove the amount, in whole or in part,
of the appropriation so requested. The Committee shall make a report
of the matters so considered by it, with recommendations or suggestions
relative thereto, and the same shall be posted in the City Clerk's
office and public library and on the City's website at least seven
days before the Municipal Council's public hearing on the proposed
City budget. Said Committee report shall state the total amount of
the appropriations recommended by it in the entire budget and the
approximate tax rate based upon said recommendations.
The Chief Financial Officer shall monthly cause
to be printed and distributed to the Municipal Council and members
of the Finance Committee or successor entity statements in tabulated
form showing the amounts appropriated and the amounts expended from
each organization/object code or order number during the preceding
year and the estimates for the current year. Copies of said monthly
statements shall be posted in the City Clerk's office and at the public
library for inspection by the public.
[Amended 5-10-2016 by Bill No. 2016-040]
The Chief Financial Officer shall submit the
capital improvements program required by Section 5-4(b) of the 1996
Amesbury Home Rule Charter to the Municipal Council not later than
May 15 of each calendar year. The Chief Financial Officer shall provide
a copy of the capital improvements program to each member of the Municipal
Council and each member of the Finance Committee or successor entity
and also shall post copies of the capital improvements program in
the City Clerk's office and at the public library for inspection by
the public. Said capital improvements program shall include detailed
information about all capital projects which the Mayor proposes to
initiate during the upcoming fiscal year.
[Amended 5-10-2016 by Bill No. 2016-040]
The Chief Financial Officer shall submit the
financial forecast required by Section 5-4(c) of the 1996 Amesbury
Home Rule Charter to the Municipal Council not later than May 15 of
each calendar year. The Chief Financial Officer shall provide a copy
of the financial forecast to each member of the Municipal Council
and each member of the Finance Committee or successor entity and also
shall post copies of the financial forecast in the City Clerk's office
and at the public library for inspection by the public.
[Added 5-9-2006 by Bill No. 2006-011]
The Chief Financial Officer shall cause to be
prepared a financial analysis on any measure submitted to the Municipal
Council. The financial analysis shall indicate the amount of public
money which will be required to be expended to carry out the provisions
of the measure, together with an estimate of the cost of operation
and maintenance for the first year if a new project is involved. The
financial analysis shall also include a recommendation as to where
the funds necessary to accomplish the goal of the proposed legislation
shall come from as well as an estimate of what effect the measure's
passage would have on the tax rate. Such a financial analysis shall
accompany any measure proposed by the Mayor to the Municipal Council.
For measures proposed by persons other than the Mayor, the Chief Financial
Officer shall provide such a financial analysis to all members of
the Municipal Council as soon as practicable and at least one week
before the public hearing on the measure. The Municipal Council may
direct the Chief Financial Officer to prepare additional financial
analyses to quantify the projected effect of proposed amendments to
any measure.
[Added 5-9-2006 by Bill No. 2006-011; amended 7-13-2010 by Bill No. 2010-057]
Any application for federal or state funds which
is submitted to the Municipal Council shall be accompanied by a document
fully describing the project for which the funding is being sought.
The document shall be prepared by the department, board or commission
which intends to submit said application for federal or state funding.
The document shall contain a projection of any operating, staffing,
or maintenance costs of the project or any facility or service provided
for in said application; said projection shall be for a maximum of
60 months or for the life of the project, whichever is less. For any
project exceeding 60 months, a new projection shall be prepared after
each sixty-month segment of the project. The document shall also include
a summary of any conditions under which the City may have to return
or reimburse the funds. The document shall also include a statement
describing the funding process, and if any funds are to be expended
by the City in anticipation of later reimbursement, the document shall
also specify the account into which such reimbursed funds will be
deposited.
[Added 7-9-2013 by Bill
No. 2013-060]
A.
Any application for a grant in excess of $5,000 filed with any other
government agency or its subdivisions, private entity, not-for-profit
entity, trust or individual submitted by or on behalf of the City,
by any and all appointed and elected officials and employees of the
City and all boards, commissions and authorities operating within
and on behalf of the City and which requires a match by the City,
shall simultaneously with said application also be filed by the person
or body submitting said application with the City Clerk as a public
record.
B.
For the purpose of this section, a grant shall be any request for
funds, goods, services, information services or analysis and/or anything
of value.
C.
Within three business days of receiving such an application, the
City Clerk shall inform each City Councilor of the existence of the
filing. This communication shall include, but not be limited to, the
entity with which the application is filed, the person or body making
the application on behalf of the City and a brief description of the
nature of the application and any requirements of a match.
[Added 2-13-2007 by Bill No. 2006-128]
All measures appropriating moneys shall be filed
as an order and appropriately titled, e.g., "An Appropriation Order."
A.
Except as otherwise permitted by law, all amounts
appropriated by the Municipal Council shall be expended only for the
purposes specified.
B.
All measures appropriating moneys shall include the
following provision or equivalent language: "Any moneys remaining
in this appropriation which are not expended for the purposes specified
shall be returned to the general fund, enterprise fund or otherwise
originating fund and shall not be expended without further appropriation."
[Added 2-13-2007 by Bill No. 2006-128]
All measures transferring funds shall include
for each transfer the specific source of funding for that transfer,
organization/object code or order number, and the specific organization/object
code or order number where the funds are to be transferred to. Transfer
requests shall include the specific purpose of the transfer. Transfer
requests shall include all the necessary statutory authorizations
when submitted to the Municipal Council.
