[Adopted as Ch. 3, Secs. 5-12, of the 1996 By-laws; amended 11-18-2013 STM by Art. 16]
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
All articles which are to be considered at the business session of an Annual Town Meeting or at any Special Town Meeting shall be referred to the Finance and Warrant Committee for its consideration. The Selectmen, after drawing any such warrant, shall transmit immediately a copy thereof to each member of said committee. A public hearing shall be held at least one month before the business session of an Annual Town Meeting and two weeks before a Special Town Meeting upon all articles to be considered at such meeting, except budget articles and articles upon which a public hearing by some other tribunal is required by law, and notice of such hearing shall be given by posting in one or more public places in each district and by publishing the same at least once in a newspaper having a general circulation in the Town. Said committee shall, after due consideration of the subject matter of such articles, report thereon in writing as provided in § 85-6, such recommendations as it deems best for the interests of the Town and its citizens.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
It shall be the duty of the Finance and Warrant Committee annually to consider the expenditures in previous years and the estimated requirements for the ensuing year of the several boards, officers and committees prescribed by said committee. The said committee shall add to such statement of expenditures and estimates another column, giving the amounts which in its opinion shall be appropriated for the ensuing year, and shall further add thereto such explanations and suggestions relating to the proposed appropriations as it may deem expedient, and shall report thereon as provided in § 39-5 above.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
Said committee shall have free access to all books of record
and accounts, bills and vouchers on which money has been or may be
paid from the Town Treasury. Officers, boards and committees of the
Town shall upon request furnish said committee with facts, figures
and any other information pertaining to their several activities.
For the purposes of this bylaw, a "Capital Improvement" is defined
as a physical betterment, including, but not limited to, the construction
of new buildings or facilities, the alteration of buildings or facilities
now or hereafter existing, and the purchase of land, or items of equipment,
provided that any such physical betterment shall have a cost of at
least $10,000. Capital Improvements include both "Operating Capital
Expenditures" and "Debt Capital."
An "Operating Capital Expenditure" is defined as a physical
betterment of items or equipment costing at least $10,000 with a useful
life of at least three years. Operating capital expenditures that
are recurring, such as department vehicles, should be financed from
the respective department operating budget in a separate line item.
"Debt Capital" includes but is not limited to the construction
of new buildings or facilities now and hereafter existing, the purchase
of land, or items of equipment, provided that it has a cost of at
least $100,000 with a useful life of at least five years. On an annual
basis, detailed estimates of the expenditures necessary for Debt Capital
should be identified by each department for the ensuing five years
and such projects should be financed as a separate capital expense
of the Town annually in a capital expenditure warrant article.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
A.
There shall be a Capital Expenditures Committee which shall perform
the duties set forth in this section and be governed by the provisions
thereof and shall advise and make recommendations to the Finance and
Warrant Committee on all matters relating to expenditures for capital
improvements in the Town. Said committee shall consist at all times
of five legal voters of the Town and shall be appointed as provided
in this section. Except as hereinafter specifically provided, no person,
other than a Town Representative, holding an elective or appointive
office in the Town nor any permanent member of a Town Department shall
serve on such committee. The members of the committee shall serve
without compensation and may employ clerical or other assistance subject
to available appropriation. The Committee shall choose its own officers.
B.
The Moderator shall appoint three of the original members of said
committee, who shall serve terms of one, two and three years respectively,
as the Moderator shall designate; and annually thereafter, immediately
following the dissolution of the business session of the Annual Town
Meeting, the Moderator shall appoint one new member to said committee
who shall succeed the member appointed by him whose term then shall
have expired and who shall serve for a term of three years.
C.
One member of said committee shall be appointed annually by the Chairman
of the Finance and Warrant Committee and such member may but need
not be a member of the Finance and Warrant Committee; and one member
shall be appointed annually by the Chairman of the Planning Board
and such member may but need not be a member of the Planning Board.
Members so appointed shall serve terms of one year from the time of
the Annual Town Meeting at which they are appointed.
D.
Whenever any vacancy shall occur in the office of the committee,
whether by reason of death, resignation, removal from the Town, appointment
or election to Town office or other cause, such vacancy shall be filled
by the appointing authority which appointed the member whose position
shall have become vacant. A copy of such appointment shall be sent
by the appointing authority to the Town Clerk and to the Secretary
of the Committee. Any person so appointed to fill that vacancy shall
hold office for the unexpired term of the person whom he succeeds.
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It shall be the duty of the committee to ascertain annually
what expenditures for capital improvements, as herein defined, will
be required by the Town during the ensuring five years, and in making
its determination shall confer with the Finance and Warrant Committee
and the Director of Finance, any Town boards, commissions, committees,
officers, employees, and other agencies and departments of the Town
involved in making expenditures for capital improvements in the Town,
all of which shall co-operate with the committee; and all such agencies
and departments or other authorities of the Town authorized by law
to make such expenditures shall furnish to the committee on the second
Friday in September in each year detailed estimates of the expenditures
necessary for capital improvements under their jurisdiction for the
ensuing five years. The committee shall prepare annually a recommendation
of expenditures for capital improvements, including recommendations
for the scheduling of such expenditures to the Town Manager by the
first Friday in January. In conjunction with the submission of the
annual budget message, the Town Manager shall propose a financing
plan for such capital improvements and the probable impact of such
improvements on the tax rate of the Town and shall furnish such report
and recommendations to the Finance and Warrant Committee.
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[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
All officers, boards, departments and committees of the Town
authorized to expend money shall annually prepare a detailed statement
of the amounts estimated to be necessary for the proper maintenance
of the respective departments, boards or committees for the ensuing
year, including estimates of the salaries for officers of the respective
boards or departments, with the same purpose during the preceding
year; estimates of the amounts necessary for capital outlays for permanent
improvements; estimates of the income to be received in connection
with the Town business or property entrusted to their respective appropriations
of which they have the expenditure and which remain unpaid, showing
the amount thereof, to whom due and for what due. Such statements
shall be submitted to the Director of Finance for the Finance and
Warrant Committee in accordance with a schedule annually determined
by the Town Manager but in no event later than 90 days prior to the
start of the Annual Town Meeting or on such other date as may be established
from time to time pursuant to the Town Charter.
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
The Parks and Recreation Department shall provide plans of parks
or playgrounds proposed for construction or reconstruction in conjunction
with any request for funding to the Finance and Warrant Committee
and said plans shall indicate property lines as well as any proposed
removal or addition of trees and other physical barriers (i.e. walls,
retaining walls, guard rails, etc.).
[Amended 11-17-2014 ATM
by Art. 18]
For the purpose of the Dedham Home Rule Charter, the Town Manager
shall submit a proposed Town operating budget to the Finance and Warrant
Committee not less than 75 days prior to the date on which the Annual
Town Meeting is to convene in its initial business session of the
annual Town meeting, and the School Committee shall submit its proposed
operating budget to the Town Manager at least 90 days prior to the
date on which the Town meeting is to convene in its initial business
session of the Annual Town meeting or on such other date as may be
established from time to time pursuant to the Town Charter.
