The fiscal year of the township shall begin on the first day
of January and end on the last day of December.
On or before the 15th day of November of each year, the manager
shall submit to the board of supervisors a budget for the ensuing
fiscal year and an accompanying message.
The manager's message shall explain the budget both in
fiscal terms and in terms of progress. It shall outline the proposed
financial policies of the township for the ensuing fiscal year; describe
the important features of the budget; indicate any major changes from
the current year in financial policies, expenditures, and revenues,
together with reasons for such changes; summarize the township's
debt position; and include such other material as the manager deems
desirable.
The budget shall provide a complete financial plan of all township
funds and activities for the ensuing fiscal year and, except as required
by this charter, shall be in such form as the manager deems desirable
or the board of supervisors may require. In organizing the budget,
the manager shall utilize the most feasible combination of expenditure
classification by fund, organization unit, program, purpose or activity,
and object. The budget shall contain, inter alia, the following:
(1) A general summary of its contents.
(2) All estimated income, in detail, indicating the existing and proposed
tax levies, as well as other assessments, fees and charges.
(3) All proposed expenditures, including debt service, for the ensuing
fiscal year.
(4) The number of proposed employees in every job classification.
(5) Comparative figures for actual and estimated income and expenditures
for the current fiscal year, and actual income and expenditures of
the preceding fiscal year.
(6) Proposed expenditures during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed by
offices, departments and agencies, in terms of their respective work
programs and the methods of financing such expenditures.
(7) Proposed capital expenditures during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed
by offices, departments and agencies when practicable, and the proposed
method of financing each such capital expenditure.
The total of proposed expenditures shall not exceed the total
of estimated income.
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The annual budget shall be a public record and shall be available
for public inspection after submission and prior to adoption, and
after adoption, during regular business hours.
Every appropriation, except an appropriation for a capital expenditure,
shall lapse at the close of the fiscal year to the extent that it
has not been expended or encumbered. An appropriation for a capital
expenditure shall continue in force until the purpose for which it
was made has been accomplished, but it shall lapse if three years
pass without any disbursement from or encumbrance of the appropriation.
The board of supervisors shall provide for an independent annual
audit of all township revenues and accounts by a Certified Public
Accountant who has no personal interest, direct or indirect, in the
fiscal affairs of the township government or any of its elected or
appointed officers. The board of supervisors may provide for more
frequent audits, as well as special audits, as it deems necessary.
The results of the annual audit and a financial statement of the fiscal
affairs of the township shall be presented to the board of supervisors
and published in a newspaper circulating generally in the township
by April 1st of the year following the fiscal year audited.
Before entering upon the duties of their respective offices
or positions, the township manager as well as any other officer, agent
or employee of the township, as the board of supervisors may determine,
shall execute and file with the township corporate surety bonds, conditioned
for the honest and faithful performance of their respective duties,
in such sums as shall be fixed by the board of supervisors. All such
bonds and sureties thereon, before being accepted by the township,
shall be approved by the township legal officer. The insurance carrier
placing such bonds shall be determined by the board of supervisors
and the premium therefore shall be paid by the township. Such bonds
may provide for one or more additional obligees in the event that
the officer bonded is acting in a dual or similar capacity with other
political sub-divisions or governmental or quasi-governmental entities.