The fiscal year of the Town government shall begin on the first
day of July and shall end on the last day of June. Such year shall
constitute the budget year of the Town government.
At or before the first Council meeting in April of each year,
the Mayor shall submit to the Council a proposed budget for the ensuing
fiscal year.
The Council shall prepare a budget on such date as they shall
determine, but at least 32 days before the beginning of any fiscal
year. The budget shall provide a complete financial plan for the budget
year and shall contain estimates of anticipated revenues and proposed
expenditures for the coming year. The total of the anticipated revenues
shall equal or exceed the total of the proposed expenditures. The
budget shall be a public record in the office of the Town Clerk, open
to public inspection by anyone during normal business hours.
Before adopting the budget, the Council shall hold a public
hearing thereon after notice thereof in some newspaper or newspapers
having general circulation within the Town. The Council may insert
new items or may increase or decrease the items of the budget. Where
the Council shall increase the total proposed expenditures, it shall
also increase the total anticipated revenues in an amount at least
equal to such total proposed expenditures. The budget shall be prepared
and adopted in the form of an ordinance. A favorable vote of at least
a majority of the total elected membership of the Council shall be
necessary for adoption.
If the budget is not approved by July 1, a majority vote of
the Council shall be necessary to extend the current budget for a
single thirty-day period. Expenditures for that period shall not exceed
1/12 of the annual expenses provided in the budget of the previous
fiscal year.
No public money may be expended without having been approved
and appropriated by the Council.
Any transfer of funds between major appropriations for different
purposes must be approved by the Council before becoming effective.
No officer or employee shall during any budget year expend or
contract to expend any money or incur any liability or enter into
any contract which by its terms involves the expenditure of money
for any purpose, in excess of the amount appropriated for or transferred
to that general classification of expenditure pursuant to this Charter.
Any contract, verbal or written, made in violation of this section
shall be null and void. Nothing in this section contained, however,
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.
All appropriations shall lapse at the end of the budget year
to the extent that they shall not have been expended or lawfully encumbered.
Any unexpended and unencumbered funds shall be considered a surplus
at the end of the budget year and shall be included among the anticipated
revenues for the next succeeding budget year.
All checks issued in payment of salaries or other municipal
obligations shall be signed by the Town Treasurer or such officer
as may be designated by the Council and shall be countersigned by
the Mayor.
All real property and all personal property within the corporate
limits of the Town, or personal property which may have a situs there
by reason of the residence of the owner therein, shall be subject
to taxation for municipal purposes. Household furniture and effects
held for household use of the owners or members of his family, and
not held or employed for the purpose of profit or in connection with
any business, profession, or occupation, shall not be subject to taxation
for municipal purposes. The assessment used for municipal taxation
shall be the same as that for state and county taxes. No authority
is given by this section to impose taxes on any property which is
exempt from taxation by any Act of the General Assembly.
From the effective date of the budget, the amount stated therein
as the amount to be raised by the property tax shall constitute a
determination of the amount of the tax levy in the corresponding tax
year.
Section 611.1.
Notice of levy. It shall be the duty
of the Town Treasurer, as soon as the annual tax levy is made and
placed in his hands for collection, to give notice by advertisement
in one newspaper published in the county and proceed to the collection
of taxes through the Town of Brentwood.
Section 611.2.
Sales of real property. Whenever any
real property owner within this municipal corporation is delinquent
in the payment of municipal taxes or charges levied against the property,
the Town Treasurer shall notify the Tax Collector of the county of
the unpaid taxes or charges on the property. If the procedure for
tax sales described in the Annotated Code of Maryland is not instituted
by the County Tax Collector within a period of 30 days after receipt
of a notice from the Town Treasurer, the Town Treasurer is authorized
at any time after the expiration of the thirty-day period to utilize
the provisions and procedures for the sale of property for unpaid
municipal taxes or charges as described in the Annotated Code of Maryland
to the same extent that these provisions and procedures are available
to county tax collectors.
Section 611.3.
Personal property.
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All unpaid municipal taxes on personal property shall be considered
unpaid liens on the personal property upon which they are levied from
the date they become payable and said unpaid personal property taxes
shall also be a lien on the real property located in the taxing jurisdiction
of the Town of Brentwood of the owner of the tax delinquent personal
property.
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Whenever there shall be a default in the payment of taxes on
personal property and the Town Clerk shall have distrained or levied
upon the same for nonpayment of any taxes due by the owner thereof,
before making sale of the property so distrained or levied upon, said
Town Clerk shall give notice by advertisement published once a week
for two successive weeks prior to the date of sale in a weekly newspaper
having a general circulation in the Town, that he will sell for cash,
at public auction, to the highest bidder, on the day and at the time
and place mentioned in said advertisements, the property therein specified,
unless on or before the day of sale the entire amount of taxes for
which such distraint or levy shall have been made, with the interest
thereon, and all costs of making said distraint or levy and advertisements
shall be paid. When the Town Clerk shall sell any personal property
levied or distrained upon for taxes, after due advertisement, as herein
provided, he shall retain out of the proceeds of sale the amount of
taxes due on such property sold, for which such distraint or levy
shall have been made, with the interest thereon and all costs incurred
in making said sale, and shall pay over the surplus, if any, to the
owner of the property so levied or distrained upon and sold. Said
sale of personal property shall be final as to all parties. The right
of redemption by the delinquent taxpayer is hereby specifically denied.[1]
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[1]
Editor's Note: Amended during codification.
[Amended 3-4-1991 by Res. No. 91-1]
The taxes provided for in Section 609.0 of this Charter shall
be due and payable on the first day of July in the year for which
they are levied and shall be overdue and in arrears on the first day
of the following October. They shall bear interest while in arrears
at the rate of 2/3% per month for each month or fraction of a month
until paid, and an additional penalty of 1% per month for each month
or fraction of a month until paid. All taxes not paid and in arrears
after the first day of the following January shall be collected as
provided in Section 611.0.
A list of all property on which the Town taxes have not been
paid and which are in arrears as provided by Section 612.0 of this
Charter shall be turned over by the Clerk to the official of the county
responsible for the sale of tax delinquent property as provided in
state law. All property listed thereon shall, if necessary, be sold
for taxes by this county official, in the manner prescribed by state
law.
All fees received by an officer or employee of the Town government
in his official capacity shall belong to the Town government and be
accounted for by the Town.
The financial books and accounts of the Town shall be audited
annually in a manner determined by the Council but not contrary to
applicable state law.
During the first six months of any fiscal year, the Town shall
have the power to borrow in anticipation of the collection of the
property tax levied for that fiscal year, and to issue tax anticipation
notes or other evidences of indebtedness as evidence of such borrowing.
Such tax anticipation notes or other evidences of indebtedness shall
be a first lien upon the proceeds of such tax and shall mature and
be paid not later than six months after the beginning of the fiscal
year in which they are issued. No tax anticipation notes or other
evidences of indebtedness shall be issued which will cause the total
tax anticipation indebtedness of the Town to exceed 50% of the property
tax levy for the fiscal year in which such notes or other evidence
of indebtedness are issued. All tax anticipation notes or other evidence
of indebtedness shall be authorized by ordinance before being issued.
The Council shall have the power to regulate all matters concerning
the issuance and sale of tax anticipation notes.
The Town shall have the power to borrow money for any proper
public purpose and to evidence such borrowing by the issue and sale
of its general obligation bonds, notes, or other certificates of indebtedness
in the manner prescribed in the Local Government Article of the Annotated
Code of Maryland, Division IV, Title 19, Subtitle 3, Creation of Public
Debt - Municipalities, §§ 19-301 through 19-309.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended during codification.
The power and obligation of the Town to pay any and all bonds,
notes, or other evidences of indebtedness issued by it shall be unlimited
and the Town shall levy ad valorem taxes upon all the taxable property
of the Town for the payment of such bonds, notes, or other evidences
of indebtedness and interest thereon. The faith and credit of the
Town is hereby pledged for the payment of the principal of and the
interest on all bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness,
hereafter issued under the authority of this Charter, whether or not
such a pledge be stated in the bonds, notes, or other evidence of
indebtedness, or in the ordinance authorizing their issuance.
All bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness validly
issued by the Town previous to the effective date of this Charter
and all ordinances passed concerning them are hereby declared to be
valid, legal, and binding and of full force and effect as if herein
fully set forth.
Section 620.1.
The Council shall have the power to
provide by ordinance for rules and regulations regarding purchasing
procedures such as the use of competitive bids.
Section 620.2.
All expenditures for supplies, materials,
equipment, construction of public improvements, or contractual services
involving more than $15,000 shall be made utilizing competitive bids
and written contracts. The Mayor shall be required to advertise for
sealed bids in such a manner as may be prescribed by ordinance. The
contract, in writing, shall be awarded to the bidder who offers the
lowest or best bid, quality of goods and work, time of delivery or
completion, and responsibility of bidders being considered. All such
written contracts shall be approved by the Council before becoming
effective. The Council shall have the right to reject all bids and
re-advertise. The Town, at any time, in its discretion may employ
its own forces for the construction or reconstruction of public improvements
without advertising for (or re-advertising for) or receiving bids.
All written contracts may be protected by such bonds, penalties, and
conditions as the Town may require.
[Amended 11-4-1985, effective 12-25-1985; 2-5-2007 by Res. No. 2007-01]
Section 620.3.
The Town shall not be required to adhere
to the competitive bid requirements outlined in Section 620.2 only
when monies have been obtained from a governmental agency or other
third party for expenditures for supplies, materials, equipment, construction
of public improvements, or contractual services and when a contractor
has been selected through a competitive bid process by the governmental
agency or other third party.
[Added 2-5-2007 by Res. No. 2007-01]
