[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 19-1982]
A.
There shall be a Town Manager appointed by the Commission.
He shall serve at the pleasure of the Commission for an indefinite
term, and his compensation shall be determined by the Commission.
If not a resident of Delmar, Maryland, or Delmar, Delaware, at the
time of his appointment, he must become a resident of one of such
towns within such time as may be specified by the Commission. The
Town Manager may serve simultaneously as Town Manager, or in a similar
capacity, for the Town of Delmar, Delaware.
B.
The Town Manager shall be the chief financial officer
of the town and have general managerial and supervisory duties and
shall carry out and implement the directions of the Commission. The
financial powers of the town shall be exercised by the Town Manager
under the direct supervision of the Commission.
C.
In the event of the suspension, removal or resignation
of the Town Manager, the Commission may appoint an Acting Town Manager,
who shall exercise all the powers and perform the duties of the Town
Manager until such time as the Commission shall appoint a new Town
Manager. The Acting Town Manager shall serve at the pleasure of the
Commission and may be removed by vote of the Commission.
[Added 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 20-1982]
The Commission may suspend or remove the Town
Manager from office at pleasure, in accordance with the procedures
set forth herein. The Commission shall first adopt a preliminary resolution
suspending the Town Manager and stating the reasons for the suspension.
A copy of such resolution shall be given to the Town Manager immediately
thereafter. Such suspension shall be for a period not exceeding thirty
(30) days. If the Town Manager so requests in writing, within five
(5) days after receiving a copy of the Commission's preliminary resolution,
a public hearing shall be held at a Commission meeting convened or
held before the date of any final vote or removal and at least twenty
(20) days after the adoption of the Commission's preliminary resolution.
The Commission may at any time revoke or rescind the order of suspension
and restore the Town Manager to duty. If the Town Manager fails to
make a timely request for a public hearing, the Commission may adopt
a final resolution of removal. If the Town Manager makes a timely
request for a public hearing, no final resolution of removal may be
adopted until after such public hearing has been held. Immediately
after the adoption of a final resolution of removal, the Commission
shall cause the Town Manager to be paid any unpaid balance of his
salary. The action of the Commission in suspending or removing the
Town Manager in accordance with the provisions hereof shall not be
subject to review by any court or governmental agency. The provisions
of this section shall not apply to any Acting Town Manager.
Under the supervision of the Commission, the
Town Manager shall have authority and shall be required to:
A.
Prepare an annual budget to be submitted to the Commission.
B.
Supervise and be responsible for the disbursement
of all moneys and have control over all expenditures to assure that
budget appropriations are not exceeded.
C.
Maintain a general accounting system for the town
in such form as the State Department of Fiscal Services may require,
pursuant to Sections 35 through 41 of Article 19 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1957 Edition, as amended).
D.
Submit at the end of each fiscal year, and at such
other times as the Commission may require, a complete financial report
to the Commission.
E.
File with the State Division of Fiscal Research, at
the end of each fiscal year, a comprehensive statement of the financial
condition of the town, as required by Section 61 of Article 40 of
the Annotated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition, as amended).
F.
Ascertain that all taxable property within the town
is assessed for taxation.
G.
Supervise the collection of all taxes, special assessments,
license fees, liens and all other revenues (including utility revenues)
of the town and all other revenues for whose collection the town is
responsible and receive any funds receivable by the town.
H.
Have custody of all public moneys belonging to or
under the control of the town, except as to funds in the control of
any set of trustees, and have custody of all bonds and notes of the
town.
I.
Do such other things in relation to the fiscal or
financial affairs of the town as the Commission may require or as
may be required elsewhere in this Charter and perform such other administrative
duties as may be required elsewhere in this Charter.
The Town Manager shall provide a bond with such
corporate surety and in such amount as the Commission by ordinance
may require.
The town shall operate on an annual budget.
The fiscal year of the town shall begin on the first day of July in
any year and shall end on the last day of June in the following year.
The fiscal year constitutes the tax year, the budget year and the
accounting year.
[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 21-1982]
The Town Manager, on or before May 1 of each
year, shall submit a budget to the Commission. The budget shall provide
a complete financial plan for the budget year and shall contain estimates
of anticipated revenues and proposed expenditures for the coming year.
The total of the anticipated revenues shall equal or exceed the total
of the proposed expenditures. The budget shall be a public record
in the office of the Town Manager, open to public inspection by anyone
during normal business hours.
[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 22-1982]
Before adopting the budget, the Commission shall
hold a public hearing thereon after two (2) weeks' notice thereof
in some newspaper or newspapers having general circulation within
the municipality. The Commission may insert new items or may increase
or decrease the items of the budget. If the Commission increases the
total proposed expenditures, it shall also increase the total anticipated
revenues in an amount at least equal to the total proposed expenditures.
The budget shall be prepared and adopted in the form of a resolution.
A favorable vote of at least a majority of a quorum of the Commission
is necessary for adoption.
No public money may be expended without having
been appropriated by the Commission. From the effective date of the
budget, the several amounts stated therein as proposed expenditures
shall be and become appropriated to the several objects and purposes
named therein.
Any transfer of funds between major appropriations
for different purposes must be approved by the Commission before becoming
effective.
No officer or employee during any budget year
may 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 amounts appropriated for
or transferred to that general classification of expenditure pursuant
to this Charter. Any contract, verbal or written, made in violation
of this Charter is null and void. Nothing contained in this section,
however, prevents 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 services
for a period exceeding the budget year in which the contract is made,
when the contract is permitted by law.
All appropriations lapse at the end of the budget
year to the extent that they are not expended or lawfully encumbered.
Any unexpended and unencumbered funds shall be considered a surplus
at the end of the budget year and shall be included among the anticipated
revenues for the next succeeding budget year.
[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 23-1982]
All checks issued in payment of salaries or
other municipal obligations shall be issued and signed by the Town
Manager or the Acting Town Manager and shall be countersigned by the
Mayor, or the Deputy Mayor in the event of the Mayor's absence or
incapacity or upon his direction.
[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 24-1982]
The Commission shall have the power to select
as the subjects of taxation such classes of personal property, of
land or improvements on land, assessable under Article 81 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland, as it may deem wise; and to levy such special or
limited rates of taxation as it may deem wise on any class of property
so selected as a subject of taxation for which a fixed or limited
rate of taxation is not prescribed by said Article 81. The Commission
shall also have the power to grant such exemptions from taxation as
shall be permitted by state law. No authority is given by this section
to impose taxes on any property which is exempt from taxation by any
act of the General Assembly.
From the effective date of the budget, the amount
stated therein as the amount to be raised by the property tax constitutes
a determination of the amount of the tax levy in the corresponding
tax year.
Immediately after the levy is made by the Commission
in each year, the Town Manager shall give notice of the making of
the levy by posting a notice thereof in some public place or places
in the town. He shall make out and mail or deliver in person to each
taxpayer or his agent at his last known address a bill or account
of the taxes due from him. This bill or account shall contain a statement
of the amount of real and personal property with which the taxpayer
is assessed, the rate of taxation, the amount of taxes due and the
date on which the taxes will bear interest. Failure to give or receive
any notice required by this section shall not relieve any taxpayer
of the responsibility to pay on the dates established by this Charter
all taxes levied on his property.
The taxes provided for in § DC5-13
of this Charter are due and payable on the first day of July in the
year for which they are levied and are overdue and in arrears on the
first day of the following October. They shall bear interest while
in arrears at the maximum rate allowed by law for each month or fraction
of a month until paid. All taxes not paid and in arrears after the
first day of the following January shall be collected as provided
in § DC5-16 of this Charter.
A list of all property on which the town taxes
have not been paid and which are in arrears as provided by § DC5-15
of this Charter shall be turned over by the Town Manager to the Director
of Finance for Wicomico County. All property listed thereon shall
be sold for taxes, if necessary, by the Director of Finance in the
manner prescribed by state law.
All fees received by an officer or employee
of the town government in his official capacity shall belong to the
town government and be accounted for to the town.
[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 25-1982]
The financial books and accounts of the town
shall be audited annually as required by Section 40 of Article 19
of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1981 Replacement Volume, as amended).
The Commission shall engage a certified public accountant or a registered
public accountant to make this examination. Any registered public
accountant so engaged must be approved by the Legislative Auditor
as provided in the aforesaid Section 40 of Article 19. The Town Manager
shall, on or before the first day of December, send a copy of the
auditor's report to the State Comptroller and the Director of the
State Department of Fiscal Services. The complete audit shall be filed
with the Commission, and copies shall be open to public inspection.
A.
The Commission is authorized and empowered to borrow
money on the faith and credit of the Town of Delmar for any proper
public purpose and may issue bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness,
in such denominations and payable at such times as the Commission
may prescribe by ordinance.
B.
The Commission is further authorized and empowered
to provide for the issuance of municipal bonds payable as to principal
and interest solely from the revenues of one (1) or more revenue-producing
projects of the town, which bonds shall not constitute an indebtedness
to which the town's faith and credit or taxing power are pledged.
C.
All bonds shall be authorized by an ordinance which
complies with Section 32 of Article 23A of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1957 Edition, or as hereafter amended).
D.
The Commission is authorized, however, to determine
in each instance whether the bonds shall be sold by the solicitation
of competitive bids at public sale or by negotiation at private sale
at a price not less than par. (See Article 31, Section 10 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland.)
E.
Nothing in this Charter shall be construed to limit
the power of the Commission to issue such bonds as authorized by Article
43; Article 44A; Article 41, Section 266B; Article 25, Section 222;
or any other provisions of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition,
as amended).
During the first six (6) months of any fiscal
year, the town may borrow in anticipation of the collection of the
property tax levied for the fiscal year and may issue tax anticipation
notes or other evidences of indebtedness as evidence of such borrowing.
Such tax anticipation notes or other evidences of indebtedness shall
be a first lien upon the proceeds of such tax and shall mature and
be paid not later than eighteen (18) months after the date of issue.
No tax anticipation notes or other evidences of indebtedness shall
be issued which will cause the total tax anticipation indebtedness
of the town to exceed fifty per centum (50%) of the property tax levy
for the fiscal year in which the notes or other evidences of indebtedness
are issued. All tax anticipation borrowing shall be authorized by
ordinance. The Commission shall have the power to regulate all matters
concerning the issuance and sale of tax anticipation notes.
[Added 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 26-1982]
The Commission may, by resolution, borrow on
the faith and credit of the Town of Delmar and for its use any sum
or sums of money, in all not exceeding in the aggregate the sum of
ten thousand dollars ($10,000.), and may issue notes for same in such
sums and payable at such time as the Commission may prescribe, provided
that the payment of such notes and the interest thereon must be paid
by the Mayor and Commissioners of Delmar from the General Taxes levied
for the use of the town under the power conferred by this Charter,
the levying or collecting of any special tax for the payment of such
notes being expressly prohibited.
Except as provided in § DC5-19B of this Charter, the power and obligation of the town to pay any and all bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued by it under the authority of this Charter shall be unlimited, and the town shall levy ad valorem taxes upon all the taxable property of the town for the payment of such bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness and interest thereon, without limitation of amount. The faith and credit of the town is hereby pledged for the payment of the principal of and the interest on all bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued under the authority of this Charter (except those bonds issued under § DC5-19B), whether or not such pledge is stated in the bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness or in the ordinance authorizing their issuance.
All bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness
validly issued by the town previous to the effective date of this
Charter and all ordinances passed concerning them are hereby declared
to be valid, legal and binding and of full force and effect as if
herein fully set forth.
A.
Procedure. All purchases and contracts for the town
government shall be made by the Town Manager. The Commission may provide
by ordinance for rules and regulations regarding the use of competitive
bidding and contracts for all town purchases and contracts. All expenditures
for supplies, materials, equipment, construction of public improvements
or contractual service involving more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.)
shall be made on written contract. The Town Manager shall advertise
for sealed bids, in such manner as may be prescribed by ordinance,
for all such written contracts. All such bids shall be considered
irrevocable once filed. The written contracts shall be awarded to
the bidder who offers the lowest or best bid, quality of goods and
work, time of delivery or completion and reliability of bidders being
considered. All such written contracts shall be approved by the Commission
before becoming effective. The Town Manager may reject all bids, with
the approval of the Commission, and readvertise. The town at any time
in its discretion may employ its own forces for the construction or
reconstruction of public improvements without advertising for (or
readvertising for) or receiving bids. All written contracts may be
protected by such bonds, penalties and conditions as the town may
require. Nothing in this section shall be applicable to the engagement
of an independent auditor or the awarding of contracts for professional
services.
[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 27-1982]
B.
Bond requirement. When any contract exceeding twenty-five
thousand dollars ($25,000.) in amount is awarded for construction,
alteration or repair of any public work or improvement of the town,
the contractor shall comply with the bond requirements of Article
21, § 3-501, of the Annotated Code of Maryland.
[Amended 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 27-1982]
C.
Appropriation required. No officer or agent of the
town shall make any contract binding or purporting to bind the town
to pay any sum of money not previously appropriated for the purpose
for which the contract is made, and the town shall not be liable on
such contracts.
D.
Personal interest. No officer or agent of the town
shall in a private capacity enter into or make any contract for doing
work or furnishing supplies or materials for the town; nor shall any
officer or agent of the town participate in the profits of any contract
between the town and any other person, firm or corporation. (This
subsection shall not apply to any stockholder of a corporation who
is not an officer of the corporation.)
E.
Upon request of the Town Manager, stating fully the reasons why competitive bidding on any single purchase or contract is impractical or unreasonable, considering among other factors the costs of operation, maintenance, downtime and service, then upon the affirmative vote of four (4) members, the Commission may direct the Town Manager to make such purchase or contract without compliance with the provisions of Subsection A.
[Added 5-10-1982 by Res. No. 27-1982]
