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).
