There shall be a Department of Finance, the head of which shall
be the Director of Finance, who shall be appointed by the Manager.
The Director of Finance shall have knowledge of municipal accounting
and shall have experience in budgeting and financial control. The
Director of Finance shall act as the purchasing agent of the Town
until such time as the Council, upon the recommendation of the Manager,
shall determine otherwise. He shall provide a bond with such surety
and in such amounts as the Council may require by resolution, such
bond to be paid for by the Town. There shall be a full-time Assessor
appointed by the Manager for an indefinite term. Both the Assessor
and the Director of Finance shall be appointed in accordance with
Chapter VIII of this Charter.
There shall be a Town Treasurer, properly qualified, who shall
also be the agent of the Town deposit fund, appointed by the Manager.
It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to receive and safely keep all
moneys belonging to the Town by depositing the same in depository
institutions to be selected by him with the approval of the Council.
He may invest from time to time with the approval of the Council in
investments legal for Connecticut municipalities moneys of the Town
not needed for immediate expenditure. He shall likewise invest any
trust funds of the Town, for which other provision has not been made
by the terms of the gift creating such fund, in securities legal for
the investment of trust funds in Connecticut. He shall keep such accounts
as shall be prescribed by law or ordinance or by the orders of the
Director of Finance, approved by the Manager. No money shall be drawn
from any Town account except by check countersigned by the Treasurer,
and he shall not affix his signature to any such check unless he is
satisfied that the expenditure represented thereby has been legally
incurred. The Treasurer shall have such deputies and other assistants,
to be appointed by him, as the Manager may determine with council
approval by ordinance. He shall provide a bond with such surety and
in such amounts as the Council may require by resolution, such bond
to be paid for by the Town.
(11-7-1972)
The Director of Finance shall have charge of the administration
of the financial affairs of the Town, and to that end shall:
(a) Compile the current expense estimates for the budget for the Manager;
(b) Compile the capital estimates for the budget for the Manager;
(c) Supervise the disbursement of all moneys and control over all expenditures
to insure that budget appropriations are not exceeded;
(d) Maintain a general accounting system for the Town government except
the Board of Education and each of its offices, departments and agencies;
keep books for and exercise financial budgetary control over each
office, department and agency; keep separate accounts for the items
of appropriation contained in the Town budget; require reports of
receipts and disbursements from each receiving and spending agency
of the Town government to be made at such intervals as he may deem
expedient;
(e) Submit to the Council and the Board of Finance, through the Manager,
a monthly statement of all receipts and disbursements in sufficient
detail to show the exact financial condition of the Town;
(f) Prepare for the Manager, as of the end of each fiscal year, a complete
financial statement and report;
(g) Supervise and be responsible for all special assessments for the
Town government as may be required by state statute or legal ordinance;
(h) Receive all special assessments, license fees and other revenues
of the Town, except tax revenues, or for whose collection the Town
is responsible and receive all money receivable by the Town from the
state or federal government, from any court or from any office, department
or agency of the Town;
(i) Supervise all public funds belonging to or under the control of the
Town or any office, department or agency of the Town government, and
turn over all funds coming into his hands to the Town Treasurer;
(j) Supervise all investments and invested funds of the Town government,
or in possession of such government in a fiduciary capacity, and supervise
the safekeeping of all bonds and notes of the Town and the receipt
and delivery of Town bonds and notes for transfer, registration or
exchange in a manner directed by the Town Treasurer;
(k) Supervise and be responsible for the purchase, storage, and distribution
of all supplies, materials, equipment and other articles used by any
office, department or agency of the Town government, except as specifically
provided otherwise by this Charter;
(l) Approve all proposed expenditures, and unless he shall certify that
there is an unencumbered balance of appropriation and available funds,
no appropriation shall be encumbered and no expenditure shall be made.
Unless otherwise prescribed by law the Director of Finance shall:
(a) Prescribe the forms of receipts, vouchers, bills or claims to be
used by all the offices, departments and agencies of the Town government;
(b) Examine and approve all contracts, orders, and other documents by
which the Town government incurs financial obligations, having previously
ascertained that moneys have been appropriated and will be available
when the obligations shall become due and payable;
(c) Audit and approve before payment all bills, invoices, payrolls and
other evidences of claims, demands or charges against the Town government
and, with the advice of the Town Attorney, determine the regularity,
legality and correctness of such claims, demands or charges;
(d) Inspect and audit any accounts or records of financial transactions
which may be maintained in any office, department or agency of the
Town government apart from or subsidiary to the accounts kept in his
office.
No office, department or agency shall expend or contract 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 that general classification
of expenditure pursuant to this Charter. Any contract, verbal or written,
made in violation of this Charter shall be null and void. Nothing
contained in this section shall prevent the making of contracts or
the spending of money for capital improvements to be financed in whole
or in part by the issuance of bonds, 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.
(11-3-1970; 11-8-1994)
Except for appropriations for capital improvements, whether
financed from current revenues or from bond issues, all appropriations
shall lapse at the end of the budget year to the extent that they
shall not have been expended or lawfully encumbered. Appropriations
for capital improvements shall lapse only when the project for which
the funds were appropriated has been completed or when no expenditures
have been made against the appropriation for a period of three (3)
years.
All fees received by any officer or employee shall belong to
the Town government and shall be paid to the Department of Finance
at such intervals as shall be determined by the Director of Finance.
The purchasing agent of the Town, pursuant to such rules and
regulations as are established by ordinance, shall contract for and
purchase all supplies, materials, equipment, insurance, other commodities,
and contractual services required by any department, office, agency,
board or commission of the Town government, except that he shall not
purchase books, equipment and materials for instructional purposes
for the use of the Department of Education unless specifically requested
so to do by said Department. He shall have the following powers and
duties, in addition to such other powers and duties as may be delegated
to him by ordinance:
(1) To establish, with the approval of the Manager and after consultation
with the heads of the departments concerned, and enforce standard
specifications for all supplies, materials and equipment required
by the several departments, offices and agencies of the Town, except
as to the purchases for the Department of Education exempted above.
(2) To prescribe the time of making requisitions for such supplies, materials
and equipment and the future period which said requisitions are to
cover.
(3) To inspect all deliveries of such supplies, materials and equipment,
and to cause tests to be made when necessary in order to determine
their quality, quantity and conformance with specifications.
(4) To supervise and control such central storerooms as the Council may
provide by ordinance to serve the several departments, offices and
agencies.
(5) With the approval of the Manager, to transfer to or between departments,
offices and agencies or sell supplies, materials and equipment, determined
after consultation with the head of the department, office or agency
concerned to be surplus, obsolete or unused.
(6) To maintain an inventory of all movable equipment belonging to the
Town.
(7) To purchase at the expense of the Town surety bonds for all officers
and employees of the Town required by law or by ordinance to furnish
bonds to the Town, and insurance of such types against liability,
loss or damage on the part of the Town or its property as the Council,
upon recommendations of the Manager, may authorize, and be responsible
for the collection of insurance benefits and other matters relating
to the administration of the Town's insurance.
(8) Purchases shall be made under such rules and regulations as may be
established by the Council, provided, if any purchase or contract
for purchasing, including a continuing order or contract for the purchase
of the same commodity or service over a period of time, involves the
expenditure of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more, the purchasing
agent, unless it shall be determined by the Council to be against
the best interests of the Town, shall invite sealed bids or proposals,
giving ten (10) days' public notice thereof by publication in at least
two (2) newspapers having major circulation in the Town, and shall
let the purchase or contract to the lowest responsible bidder thereon
or may reject any or all such bids or proposals. All such sealed bids
or proposals shall be opened publicly.
Before the Town purchasing agent makes any purchase of or contract
for supplies, materials or equipment, or sells any real estate, supplies,
materials or equipment, he shall give ample opportunity for competitive
bidding, under such rules and regulations as the Council may prescribe,
provided the Council shall not except individual contracts, purchases
or sales, from the requirement of competitive bidding.
All purchases made and contracts executed by the purchasing
agent shall be pursuant to a written requisition from the head of
the office, department or agency whose appropriation will be charged,
and no contract or order shall be issued to any vendor unless and
until the Director of Finance certifies that there is to the credit
of such office, department or agency a sufficient unencumbered appropriation
for which the contract or order is to be issued.
No contract shall be executed for the acquisition of any property
or the construction of any improvement or betterment to be financed
by the issuance of bonds to be amortized by general taxation until
the ordinance authorizing the issuance of such bonds shall have taken
effect and any contract executed before such day shall be unenforceable
in any court of law.
At any time in any budget year, the Council may, pursuant to
this section, make emergency appropriations to meet a pressing need
for public expenditure, for other than a regular or recurring requirement,
to protect the public health, safety or welfare. Such appropriation
shall be by resolution adopted by the favorable votes of at least
two-thirds of the members of the Council upon recommendation of the
Manager and Board of Finance, or at least seven (7) of the members
of the Council if not recommended by the Manager and the Board of
Finance. The total amount of all emergency appropriations made in
any budget year shall not exceed three (3) percent of the total operating
appropriations made in the budget of that year.
In the absence of unappropriated available funds to meet emergency
appropriations under the provisions of Section 712 of this chapter,
the Council may by resolution, upon recommendation of the Board of
Finance, authorize the issuance of notes, each of which shall be designated
"Emergency Note" and may be renewed from time to time, but all such
notes of any fiscal year and any renewals thereof shall be paid not
later than the last day of the fiscal year next succeeding the budget
year in which the emergency appropriation was made.
In any budget year, in anticipation of the collection of the
property tax for such year, whether levied or to be levied in such
year, upon recommendation of the Board of Finance, the Council may
by resolution authorize the borrowing of money by the issuance of
negotiable notes of the Town, each of which shall be designated "Tax
Anticipation Note for the year _____," stating the budget year. Such
notes may be issued for periods not exceeding one (1) year and may
be renewed from time to time for periods not exceeding one (1) year,
but all such notes, together with renewals, shall mature and be paid
not later than the end of the third fiscal year after the budget year
in which the original notes have been issued. The amount of the tax
anticipation notes originally issued in any budget year shall not
exceed fifty (50) percent of the amount of property tax levied in
that year for Town purposes. On renewal of tax anticipation notes
of any given fiscal year, the amount renewed in the next succeeding
fiscal year shall not exceed twenty (20) percent of the amount originally
issued, and the amount renewed in the second fiscal year succeeding
the year of levy shall not exceed four (4) percent of the amount originally
issued.
In any budget year, in anticipation of the collection or receipt
of other revenues of that budget year, upon recommendation of the
Board of Finance, the Council may by resolution authorize the borrowing
of money by the issuance of negotiable notes of the Town, each of
which shall be designated "Special Revenue Note for the year _____,"
stating the budget year. Such notes may be renewed from time to time,
but all such notes, together with the renewals, shall mature and be
paid not later than the end of the fiscal year after the budget year
in which the original notes have been issued.
No notes shall be made payable on demand, but any note may be
made subject to redemption prior to maturity on such note and at such
time as may be stated in the note.
All notes issued pursuant to this chapter may be sold at not
less than par value and accrued interest at private sale without previous
advertisement by the Director of Finance.
The power and obligation of the Town to pay any and all notes
issued after the effective date of this act pursuant to this chapter
shall be unlimited and the Town shall levy ad valorem taxes on all
the taxable property within the Town for the payment of such notes
and interest thereon without limitation of rate or amount. The faith
and credit of the Town is hereby pledged for the payment of the principal
of and interest on all notes of the Town issued after said date pursuant
to this chapter, whether or not such a pledge is stated in the notes.
The Board of Finance shall serve as the budget-making authority
of the Town and to this end shall:
(a) Elect its own chairman, adopt rules of procedure for meetings and
appoint a clerk who shall keep a record of all proceedings of the
Board meetings, which record shall include the vote of each member
voting on any action, and which record shall be a public record, certified
copies of which shall be forwarded to the Town Clerk;
(b) Consider and present the annual budget and budget recommendations
to the Town Council, in accordance with the provisions of the chapter;
(c) Make recommendations to the Council on all actions which include
the appropriation of money;
(d) Carry out such other duties concerning local fiscal affairs not inconsistent
with the provisions of this Charter;
(e) Appoint annually a certified public accountant to audit all books,
accounts and records relating to the fiscal affairs of the Town, and
have the result thereof reported to the Board of Finance. A copy of
the report shall be filed with the Manager, Council and the Town Clerk
within thirty (30) days after its completion.
No appropriations shall be made by the Council until receipt
of a recommendation, favorable or otherwise, concerning such appropriation
by the Board of Finance, except that failure of the Board of Finance
to present its recommendation on any appropriation to the Council
within thirty-five (35) days after referral of such appropriation
to said Board shall be considered as a favorable recommendation. Appropriations
of less than five hundred dollars ($500) may be made by the Board
of Finance without recommendation to the Town Council and without
the approval of Town Council. When the aggregate of separate payments
for a single item or service within a single fiscal year exceeds or
is expected to exceed five hundred dollars ($500), approval of the
Town Council shall be required for such payments.
(11-3-1970)
The fiscal year of the Town shall begin on the first day of
July and end on the 30th day of June.
Not later than the first day of February, each department, office,
board, commission and agency of the Town, excepting the Board of Education,
shall submit to the Manager in such forms as he may prescribe its
estimates of receipts and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year.
Each department, office, board, commission and agency shall be entitled
to an opportunity to be heard by the Manager in respect to these estimates.
(11-3-1970; 11-7-1972; 11-8-1988)
It shall be the duty of the Manager to present to the Board
of Finance not later than the eighteenth (18th) day of February in
each year the budget for the ensuing fiscal year. The budget shall
contain:
(a) An estimate of the probable cash deficit or unencumbered cash surplus,
as the case may be, at the end of the current fiscal year;
(b) Estimates of the revenue cash receipts of the ensuing year other
than from property taxes;
(c) Estimates of expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year; and
(d) An estimate of the sum necessary to be raised by taxation to balance
the budget, taking into consideration the cash surplus or cash deficit
for the current fiscal year as provided in (a) above.
The estimates of receipts shall be detailed by sources, and
the estimates of expenditures by departments and the principal subdivisions
thereof, offices, boards, commissions and agencies of the Town, and
shall show for each such unit the estimated expenditures, broken down
by personal service, contractual service, materials and supplies,
fixed charges, and capital outlays. The budget shall also contain
in parallel columns the receipts and expenditures for each item for
the last complete fiscal year, the receipts and expenditures for the
first six (6) months of the current fiscal year, the estimated receipts
and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year as presented to the Manager
in respect of the several departments, offices, boards, commissions
and agencies and the recommendations of the Manager, together with
such other data as the Board of Finance may prescribe. The budget
shall be printed or otherwise reproduced in a sufficient number of
copies to furnish one to each citizen who shall request the same and
shall be available for such distribution not later than the last Monday
in March. A condensed annual Town budget shall also be published in
two (2) newspapers having major circulation in the Town no later than
the last Monday in March.
(11-3-1970; 11-7-1972; 11-8-1988; 11-2-2010)
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The school budget shall contain a detailed estimate of expenditures
deemed by the Board of Education to be necessary for the proper conduct
of the public schools, the anticipated receipts from sources other
than the property tax, and the amount required to be raised by taxation
to balance the school budget. The budget shall also show in parallel
columns an item-by-item comparison of the proposed budget with actual
receipts and expenditures for the last complete fiscal year, the estimated
receipts and expenditures in the budget as finally adopted for the
current fiscal year, and the actual receipts and expenditures for
the first six (6) months of the current fiscal year. The Board of
Finance shall fix a time during the week following the second Monday
in February at which the Board of Education or a committee thereof
shall bring before the Board of Finance or a committee thereof, for
discussion, its budget for the ensuing year. Following this session
and not later than the third day in March the Board of Education shall
file its proposed budget for the ensuing year with the Town Clerk,
and the Board of Finance shall cause the same to be printed or otherwise
reproduced so as to be available for distribution with the Manager's
Town budget not later than the last Monday in March. A summary of
the school budget shall also be published by the Board of Finance
in two (2) newspapers having major circulation in the Town not later
than the last Monday in March.
(11-3-1970; 11-7-1972)
There shall be a public hearing no later than the third (3rd)
Monday in March at a place to be determined by the Board of Finance
at least seven days' notice of which shall be given by publication
in two (2) newspapers having major circulation in the Town and by
posting on the Town bulletin board. At such hearing, any citizen or
property owner who desires it shall be entitled to be heard by the
Board of Finance on the Town and school budget, and the hearing shall
be continued from day to day until all such persons have been heard.
Budget summary: At the head of the budget there shall appear a summary
of the budget, which need not be itemized further than by principal
sources of anticipated revenue, stating separately the amount to be
raised by property tax, and by departments and kinds of expenditures
in such a manner as to present to taxpayers a simple and clear summary
of the detailed estimates of the budget.
(11-3-1970; 11-7-1972; 11-2-2010)
The budget and all supporting schedules shall be a public record
in the office of the Town Clerk, open to public inspection by anyone.
The Board of Finance shall cause sufficient copies of the budget to
be prepared for distribution to interested persons in time for the
public budget hearing on the last Monday in March and available at
the budget hearing.
(11-3-1970; 11-7-1972)
After the conclusion of such public hearing, the Board of Finance
may insert new items or may increase or decrease the items of the
budget, except items of proposed expenditures fixed by law. The Board
of Finance may not vary the titles, descriptions or activity classifications
specified in the budget. Before inserting any additional item or increasing
any item or appropriation, it shall cause to be published notice thereof
in two (2) newspapers having major circulation in the Town, setting
forth the nature of the proposed increases and fixing a time and place,
not less than seven (7) days after publication, at which the Board
of Finance will hold a public hearing on any proposed increase. After
such further hearings, the Board of Finance may insert the additional
item or items, and make the increase or increases to the amount of
each case indicated by the published notice, or to a lesser amount,
but where it shall increase the total proposed expenditure, it shall
also increase the total anticipated revenue to at least equal such
total proposed expenditure.
The budget shall be recommended by the favorable vote of at
least four (4) members of the Board of Finance. Not later than the
first (1st) Monday in April the Board of Finance shall transmit to
the Town Council its budget recommendations for the next fiscal year.
(11-3-1970; 7-23-1984; 11-2-2010)
Upon receipt of the budget recommended by the Board of Finance,
the Town Council shall proceed to consider further the budget, and
may act on the budget recommended by the Board of Finance as follows:
(1) Adopt the budget as recommended by the Board of Finance;
(2) Reduce any item in the budget by a majority vote of the total membership
of the Town Council;
(3) Restore any item originally requested by the Manager or the Board
of Education in the budget by a vote of at least two-thirds of the
total membership of the Council. After completing such action, the
Town Council shall adopt the budget by resolution not later than the
second Monday in May and so notify the Board of Finance, the Board
of Education and the Manager.
Upon adoption of the budget by the Town Council, the Board of
Finance shall fix the amount or revenue to be raised by taxation for
Town and school purposes combined, so as to preserve a balanced relation
between receipts and expenditures including any estimated cash surplus
or cash deficit from the current fiscal year. The Board of Finance
shall thereupon on or before the third Monday in May in each year
fix the rate of taxation on the last property grand list at a point
sufficient in its judgment to produce such amount.
(11-3-1970; 11-2-1971)
The adoption of the Town budget as amended shall be deemed to
constitute the appropriation to each department or when so indicated
in the budget a major subdivision thereof, office, board, commission
and agency separately listed in the budget of the sum estimated in
the budget, to be expended by each such unit respectively.
The Town Council on the recommendation of the Board of Finance
may at any time appropriate, subject to the provisions imposed in
Sections 727, 728 and 729 of this chapter, any unappropriated and
unencumbered cash balance in the Town treasury, provided that there
shall be attached to the request for such appropriation the certificate
of the Director of Finance that such a balance actually exists free
from encumbrance. If such balance does not exist, the deficit so created
must be included in the next following year's budget.
The Town Manager may authorize a transfer from any unencumbered
appropriation balance or portion thereof between general classifications
of expenditures within an office, department or agency up to $1,000
per line item within a fiscal year. The $1,000 maximum figure applies
to transfers into a line item and out of a line item. The Town Manager
shall file with the Board of Finance and the Town Council monthly
statements and year-to-date statements of transfers by department
and by account that were authorized by the Town Manager under this
section.
(Added 11-5-2013)
The Board of Finance may at any time transfer any unencumbered
appropriation balance or portion thereof between general classifications
of expenditures within an office, department or agency. Within the
last three (3) months of the budget year, the Council may, upon the
recommendation of the Board of Finance, by resolution, transfer any
unencumbered appropriation balance or portion thereof from one (1)
office, department or agency to another, and any time during the budget
year the Council may, upon recommendation of the Board of Finance,
transfer funds appropriated as contingency to any office, department
or agency, or to any appropriation item not listed in the budget as
originally adopted. Action on recommendations shall be as provided
for in Sections 727, 728 and 729 of this chapter.
No money shall be expended or obligation for such expenditure
incurred by any department, office, board, commission or agency of
the Town except in accordance with an appropriation by the Council.
No contract, work order, purchase order or other authorization to
spend money by any department, office, board, commission or agency,
except the Board of Education, shall be valid until there has been
attached thereto the certificate of the Director of Finance that there
is an unexpended and unencumbered balance of an appropriation applicable
thereto sufficient to meet the estimated cost thereof, provided that
the Board of Education shall set up its own system of budgetary control.
It shall further be the duty of the Director of Finance after signing
such certificates to immediately encumber the appropriation in question
with such estimated cost.
Appropriations shall lapse at the end of the fiscal year for
which they were made, and any balance shall be credited to the general
fund, provided that an appropriation for capital outlay shall not
lapse until the object for which the appropriation was made has been
accomplished or no expenditure from or encumbrance of the appropriation
has been made for three (3) consecutive fiscal years.
Contracts for the construction of streets, buildings and other
public works shall be made under such rules and regulations as may
be established by ordinance, provided if any such contract involves
the expenditure of five thousand dollars ($5,000) or more the Council
shall invite sealed bids or proposals, giving ten (10) days' public
notice thereof by at least one (1) publication in two (2) newspapers
having major circulation in the Town, and shall let the purchase or
contract to the lowest responsible bidder thereon or shall reject
all such bids and proposals. All such sealed bids or proposals shall
be opened publicly. No transaction essentially a unit shall be divided
for the purpose of evading the provisions of this section. Records
of all bids and of the successful bidder shall be kept in the office
of the purchasing agent, where they shall be open to public inspection.
No payroll, bill or other claim against the Town, except those
of the Board of Education, shall be paid until the same has been audited
for correctness and legality by the Director of Finance, and all payments
shall be made by check drawn on a Town bank account, signed by the
Manager, Director of Finance and countersigned by the Town Treasurer.
To avoid unnecessary delay in the transaction of Town business, the
Manager, the Director of Finance and Treasurer shall each designate
a deputy, covered by the bond of his principal, who may affix the
signature of his principal to certificates, payrolls, bills, claims
and checks.
The Manager, Director of Finance, Tax Collector, Treasurer,
Town Accountant and such other officers and employees of the Town
as the Council may determine shall file with the Town Clerk surety
bonds in such amounts as may be designated in such ordinance, conditioned
upon the faithful performance of their respective duties. The premiums
of such bonds shall be paid by the Town.
(Repealed on November 3, 1970).
The Town may incur indebtedness by issuing its negotiable bonds
and notes in anticipation of bonds, pursuant to this Charter and the
General Statutes of Connecticut, to finance any capital project which
it may lawfully construct or acquire.
(11-3-1970)
The Town shall authorize the issuance of bonds by a "bond ordinance"
passed by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of the Council
members upon recommendation of the Board of Finance.
(11-3-1970)
A bond ordinance shall contain in substance at least the following
provisions.
(a) An appropriation of a sum of money for a capital project described
in brief and general terms sufficient for reasonable identification;
(b) To finance the said appropriation, an authorization of the incurring
of indebtedness by the issuance of bonds not to exceed a stated amount
pursuant to this Charter;
(c) A statement of the estimated maximum cost of the capital project,
including any funds from sources other than the bond issue;
(d) A determination of the period of usefulness of the project.
The title of a bond ordinance shall state the amount appropriated
for an indicated project and the amount of bonds authorized to finance
the appropriation.
(11-3-1970)
(Repealed November 3, 1970)
(Repealed November 3, 1970)
(a) Any bond ordinance or resolution making a special appropriation in
excess of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) but less than one
million dollars ($1,000,000) shall be subject to referendum as provided
in Section 307 of the Charter; provided, however, that if any such
bond ordinance or resolution makes a special appropriation in excess
of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), the petition required
by Section 307 need be signed by not more than three (3) percent of
the total number of qualified electors of the Town.
(b) Any bond ordinance or resolution making a special appropriation in
excess of one million dollars ($1,000,000) shall not become effective
until the same shall have been approved by a majority of those qualified
to vote, voting thereon at a referendum called by the Council for
the purpose.
(c) No emergency ordinance and no bond ordinance or resolution making
a special appropriation of less than seventy-five thousand dollars
($75,000) shall be subject to the provisions of (a) or (b). No bond
ordinance or resolution making a special appropriation to finance
a municipal improvement to be paid from the proceeds of special assessments
or user charges shall be subject to the provisions of (a) or (b),
although bonds or notes authorized to finance such improvements shall
be secured by the full faith and credit of the Town unless otherwise
provided in the bond ordinance.
(11-3-1970; 11-8-1988; 11-7-2000)
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In anticipation of the issuance of bonds, the Council may by
resolution authorize the issuance of negotiable notes when it shall
have theretofore authorized the issuance of bonds. Unless otherwise
provided by ordinance, all bond anticipation notes may be sold by
the Town Manager and Treasurer at a public or private sale.
(11-3-1970)
All matters in connection with the authorization, sale and issuance
of the bonds and notes not specifically required to be provided in
the bond ordinance may be determined or provided by subsequent resolution
adopted by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of the members
of the Council or may be delegated by it to the Town Manager and Treasurer.
(11-3-1970)
(Repealed November 3, 1970)
Within the foregoing maximum periods, bonds shall mature not
later than the expiration of the period of the probable usefulness
of the capital project for which they are issued, as determined by
certificate of the engineer or architect, approved by the Town Council,
and stated in the bond ordinance.
(Repealed November 3, 1970)
After twenty (20) days shall have elapsed from the date upon
which a bond ordinance becomes effective as provided by this chapter:
(a) Any recitals or statements of fact contained in such bond ordinance,
or in the preambles or recitals thereof, shall be deemed to be true
for the purpose of determining the validity of the bonds thereby authorized,
and the Town and all other interested parties shall forever thereafter
be stopped from denying the same;
(b) Such bond ordinance shall be conclusively presumed to have been duly
and regularly passed by the Town and to comply with the provisions
of this Charter and of all laws;
(c) The validity of such bond ordinance shall not thereafter be questioned
by either a party plaintiff or a party defendant, except in a suit
action or proceeding commenced prior to the expiration of such twenty
(20) days.
(Repealed November 3, 1970)
Any requested special or additional appropriation upon which
the Board of Finance has made its recommendation as provided in this
Charter may be restored in whole or in part by the Town Council by
an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of its members, whether
the appropriation be from any unappropriated or unencumbered cash
balance or financed by the issuance of bonds, subject to any of the
provisions of this Charter providing for a referendum.
The Town Council may reject or reduce any requested special
or additional appropriation by a majority vote of the total membership
of the Town Council.
Should the Board of Finance fail to present its recommendation
on any special or additional appropriation to be financed by bonds
with thirty-five (35) days after referral, the Council may, by a vote
of at least two-thirds of its members, approve such appropriation,
in whole or in part, which such approval shall have the same force
and effect as if it had prior approval by the Board of Finance.
(11-3-1970)