The fiscal year of the City shall commence on the first day of January and conclude on the last day of December of each year.
A. 
The Mayor and City Manager shall be responsible for the preparation of the annual budget and shall present to the City Council the proposed budget of the next fiscal year and an accompanying budget message by the October business meeting or October 15, whichever shall occur first.
B. 
The budget shall be a complete financial plan and shall consist of an operating budget, a capital budget and any other budgets of the City as well as all funds, taxes, anticipated revenues and expenditures. The budget shall be balanced. The budget shall include the tax levies necessary to produce anticipated revenues.
C. 
The budget format shall be detailed within the Administrative Code.
D. 
The budget shall also include a simple, clear general summary of the detailed contents of the budget in addition to the budget and budget message.
The budget message shall explain the programs to be undertaken and their financial implications. It shall describe the important features of the budget; indicate any major changes from the current fiscal year; summarize the City's debt position; and include such other material as the Mayor deems necessary.
City Council must schedule a public budget hearing prior to the final adoption of the budget. The hearing must be scheduled in accordance with § 2.12, Meetings.
The budget shall be available for public inspection for at least 30 days prior to final adoption. Upon completion of the budget hearing and the lapsing of the thirty-day public inspection period, but not later than December 15 of the year in which the proposed budget is submitted, City Council shall adopt the budget by ordinance with or without amendment. City Council may add to, delete from, increase or decrease any appropriation item in the operating or capital budget. No amendment to the budget shall increase authorized expenditures to an amount greater than the total of estimated income and cash reserve unless action is also taken to increase revenue to such a level. No amendment shall change expenditures required by law or collective bargaining agreements or for debt service or for any estimated unpaid obligations. The budget shall become effective on January 1 of the following year.
A. 
If the City Council fails to adopt a budget on or before December 15 of the year in which the budget is submitted, the proposed budget as submitted by the Mayor and City Manager shall be deemed approved.
B. 
Funds for the proposed expenditures shall stand appropriated to the same extent as if favorable action thereon had been taken by the City Council.
Upon adoption of the budget by City Council, it shall be delivered to the Mayor within one business day. The Mayor shall then either approve or veto the budget pursuant to § 3.04E. If the Mayor vetoes the budget, he shall return it to the City Council with explicit reasons for the veto immediately. The City Council may override the veto pursuant to § 2.13D. A special meeting of City Council may be scheduled to only override the budget veto of the Mayor with 24 hours' notice to the Mayor, City Manager and a public posting within City Hall and on the City's website, but not later than December 31.
A. 
The City shall not increase all sources of revenues by more than 108% of the preceding year. Revenues shall be construed as all taxes, fees and regular income and shall not include grants, one-time sources, proceeds from the sale of assets, sewer fees, solid waste fees and other restricted revenues. Total revenues combined from said sources shall not exceed 108% of the preceding year unless the Council by majority vote of the whole, which shall be three, shall, upon due cause shown by resolution, petition the Court of Common Pleas, in which case the court may order that revenues may exceed 108% of the preceding year for one year, and those additional revenues shall not be used to determine the one-hundred-and-eight-percent ceiling for the succeeding year.
B. 
The City may enact a homestead exemption pursuant to the Homestead Exemption Law of the commonwealth.
To meet a public emergency as declared by the Mayor, the City Council may, by emergency ordinance, make emergency appropriations from contingent funds, revenue received from budgeted sources but in excess of estimates, revenue received from sources not budgeted, or revenue from any other source available to the City in an emergency.
No payment shall be made or obligation incurred against any appropriation unless there is a sufficient unencumbered balance in such appropriation. No payment of any funds of the City shall be made except upon the recommendation of the City Manager or his/her designee and the approval of the City Council. The City Manager shall be responsible for the preparation of checks or drafts of the City. In order to be valid, all checks and/or drafts of the municipality shall bear the signature of any two of the four officials of the City hereinafter designated from time to time by the Mayor. Designated signatories for all checks and/or drafts of the City are the Mayor, City Manager, City Clerk and City Council President.
Every appropriation, except an appropriation for a capital expenditure, shall lapse at the close of the fiscal year to the extent 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.
A. 
The Mayor and City Manager shall be required to draft a comprehensive long-range plan setting forth a plan for public services, community and economic development, future land use, capital improvements and fiscal policy based upon the current conditions, forecasted trends and desired goals and objectives of the City. A detailed description of the scope of the plan shall be included in the Administrative Code.
B. 
The plan shall be submitted to the City Council for consideration and adoption by ordinance. The plan shall be updated every five years.
C. 
All planning ordinances, such as the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance, Zoning Ordinance and all other related ordinances, shall be updated in accordance with the City's Comprehensive Plan.
The City Manager shall be responsible for the City's accounting system, and a complete description of the accounting system shall be detailed in the Administrative Code, and at a minimum it shall conform with general accepted accounting principles (GAAP).