Under the supervision of the Council, the Clerk-Treasurer
shall have authority and shall be required to:
A.Â
Prepare at the request of the Council an annual budget
to be submitted to the Council.
B.Â
Supervise and be responsible for the disbursement
of all monies and have control over all expenditures to assure that
budget appropriations are not exceeded.
C.Â
Maintain a general accounting system for the town
in such form as the Council may require, not contrary to state law.
D.Â
Submit at the end of each fiscal year, and at such
other times as the Council may require, a complete financial report
to the Council.
E.Â
Ascertain that all taxable property within the town
is assessed for taxation.
F.Â
Collect 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.
G.Â
Do such other things in relation to the fiscal or
financial affairs of the town as the Council may require or as may
be required elsewhere in this Charter.
The Clerk-Treasurer shall provide a bond with
such corporate surety and in such amount as the Council 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 and
shall end on the last day of June in each year. Such fiscal year shall
constitute the tax year, the budget year and the accounting year.
The President of the Council, on such date as
the Council by ordinance shall determine, but at least thirty-two
(32) days before the beginning of any fiscal year, shall submit a
budget to the Council. 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 Clerk-Treasurer, open to public inspection by anyone
during normal business hours.
Before adopting the budget, the Council shall
hold a public hearing thereon after two (2) weeks' notice thereof
in some newspaper or newspapers having general circulation within
the municipality. The Council may insert new items or may increase
or decrease the items of the budget. Where the Council shall increase
the total proposed expenditures, it shall also increase the total
anticipated revenues in an amount at least equal to such proposed
expenditures. The budget shall be prepared and adopted in the form
of an ordinance. A favorable vote of at least a majority of the total
elected membership of the Council shall be necessary for adoption.
No public money may be expended without having
been appropriated by the Council. 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 Council before becoming
effective.
No officer or employee 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 expenditures
of money for any purpose in excess of the amounts appropriated for
or transferred to that general classification of expenditures pursuant
to this Charter. Any contract, verbal or written, made in violation
of the Charter shall be null and void. Nothing in this section contained,
however, shall prevent the making of contracts of the borrowing or
spending of money for capital improvements to be financed in whole
or in part by issuance of bonds or monies, otherwise borrowed by the
town, nor the making of contracts of lease or for services for a period
exceeding the budget year in which such contract is made, when such
contract is permitted by law.
All appropriations shall lapse at the end of
the budget year to the extend[1] that they shall not have been 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.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original. Probably should
read "extent."
All checks issued in payment of salaries or
other municipal obligations shall be issued and signed by the Clerk-Treasurer
and shall be countersigned by the President of the Council.
All purchases and contracts for the town government
shall be made by the Clerk-Treasurer. The Council may provide by ordinance
for rules and regulations regarding the using 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 one hundred dollars ($100.)
shall be made on written contract. The Clerk-Treasurer shall have
the right to reject all bids 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.
A.Â
The power and obligation of the town to pay any and
all bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued by the
town[1] 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 hereafter issued under the authority of
this Charter, whether or not such pledge be stated in the bonds, notes
or other evidences of indebtedness or in the ordinance authorizing
their issuance.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original. Probably should
read "issued by it under the authority of this Charter shall be unlimited,
and the town."
B.Â
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.
All real property and all tangible personal
property within the corporate limits of the town, or personal property
which may have a situs there by reason of the residence of the owner
therein, shall be subject to taxation for municipal purposes, and
the assessment used shall be subject to taxation for municipal purposes,
and the assessment used shall be the same as that for state and county
taxes. 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 shall
constitute a determination of the amount of the tax levy in the corresponding
tax year.
Immediately after the levy is made by the Council
in each year, the Clerk-Treasurer 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 § WC-59
of this Charter shall be due and payable on the first day of July
in the year for which they are levied and shall be overdue and in
arrears on the first day of the following November. They shall bear
interest while in arrears at the rate of one per centum (1%) 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 § WD-61.
A list of all property on which the town taxes
have not yet been paid and which are in arrears as provided by § WC-60
of this Charter shall be turned over by the Clerk-Treasurer to the
official of the county responsible for the sale of tax-delinquent
property as provided in state law. All property listed thereon shall,
if necessary, be sold for taxes by this county official, in the manner
prescribed by state law.
The town shall have the power to levy and collect
taxes in the form of special assessments upon property in a limited
and determinable area for special benefits conferred upon such property
by the installation or construction of water mains, sanitary sewer
mains, stormwater sewers, curbs and gutters and by the construction
and paving of public ways and sidewalks or parts thereof, and to provide
for the payment of all or any part of the above projects out of the
proceeds of such special assessments. The cost of any project to be
paid in whole or in part by special assessments may include the direct
cost thereof, the cost of land acquired for the project, the interest
of bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued in anticipation
of the collection of special assessments, a reasonable charge for
the services of the administrative staff of the town and any other
item of cost which may reasonable[1] be attributed to the project.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original. Probably should
read "reasonably."
The procedure for special assessment, wherever
authorized in the Charter, shall be as follows:
A.Â
The cost of the project being charged for shall be
assessed according to the front-foot rule or apportionment or some
other equitable basis determined by the Council.
B.Â
The amount assessed against any property for any project
or improvement shall not exceed the value of the benefits accruing
to the property therefrom, nor shall any special assessment be levied
which shall cause the total amount of special assessments levied by
the town and outstanding against any property at any time, exclusive
of delinquent installments, to exceed twenty-five per centum (25%)
of the assessed value of the property after giving effect to the benefit
accruing thereto from the project or improvement for which assessed.
C.Â
When desirable, the affected property may be divided
into different classes to be charged different rates, but except for
this, any rate shall be uniform.
D.Â
All special assessment charges shall be levied by
the Council by ordinance. Before levying any special assessment charges,
the Council shall hold a public hearing. The Clerk-Treasurer shall
cause notice to be given stating the nature and extent of the proposed
project, the kind of materials to be used, the estimated cost of the
project, the portion of the cost to be assessed, the number of installments
in which the assessment may be paid, the method to be used in apportioning
the cost and the limits of the proposed area of assessment. The notice
shall also state the time and place at which all persons interested,
or their agents or attorneys, may appear before the Council and be
heard concerning the proposed project and special assessment. Such
notice shall be given by sending a copy thereof by mail to the owner
or[1] record of each parcel of property proposed to be assessed
and to the person in whose name the property is assessed for taxation
and by publication of a copy of the notice at least once in a newspaper
of general circulation in the town. The Clerk-Treasurer shall present
at the hearing a certificate of publication and mailing of copies
of the notice, which certificate shall be deemed proof of notice,
but failure of any owner to receive the mailed copy shall not invalidate
the proceedings. The date of hearing shall be set at least ten (10)
and not more than thirty (30) days after the Clerk-Treasurer shall
have completed publication and service of notice as provided in this
section. Following the hearing, the Council, in its discretion, may
vote to proceed with the project and may levy the special assessment.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original. Probably should
read "of."
E.Â
Any interested person feeling aggrieved by the levying
of any special assessment under the provisions of this section shall
have the right to appeal to the Circuit Court for the county within
ten (10) days after the levying of any assessment by the Council.
F.Â
Special assessments may be made payable in annual
or more frequent installments over such period of time, not to exceed
ten (10) years, and in such manner as the Council may determine. The
Council shall determine on what date installments shall be due and
payable. Interest may be charged on installments at the rate to be
determined by the Council.
G.Â
All special assessment installments shall be overdue
six (6) months after the date on which they became due and payable.
All special assessments shall be liens on the property, and all overdue
special assessments shall be liens on the property, and all overdue
special assessments shall be collected in the same manner as town
taxes or by suit at law.
H.Â
All special assessments shall be billed and collected
by the Clerk-Treasurer.
All fees received by any officer or employee
of the town government in his official capacity shall belong to the
town government and be accounted for to the town.
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.
During the first six (6) months of any fiscal
year, the town shall have the power to borrow in anticipation of the
collection of the property tax levied for that fiscal year, and to
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 six (6) months after the
beginning of the fiscal year in which they are issued. 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 such notes or other evidences of indebtedness are issued.
All tax anticipation notes or other evidences of indebtedness shall
be authorized by ordinance before being issued. The Council shall
have the power to regulate all matters concerning the issuance and
sale of tax anticipation notes. Nothing herein shall prevent the borrowing
of money by the Council on open notes or long term notes or other
evidences of indebtedness not in anticipation of repayment by future
taxes.
