[Amended 1-18-1991 by L.L. No. 3-1991; 11-4-2008 by L.L. No. 10-2008]
A. 
A Department of Finance and Management Services in and for the City of Yonkers is hereby created and shall be referred to in this Article as the "Department." The head of the Department shall be the Commissioner of Finance, who shall be referred to in this Article as the "Commissioner," a position in the unclassified service vested with authority, direction and control over said department, with power and authority to appoint and remove officers and employees therein, who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Mayor. The Commissioner so appointed shall have the training and qualifications necessary to perform the duties of the office. Commissioner shall be empowered to act for and in place of the Mayor regarding the financial affairs and management services of the City of Yonkers. Commissioner appears on behalf of the Mayor at a board, commission, committee or other body on which the Mayor sits, then the Commissioner shall be counted toward a quorum and shall exercise the voting powers of the Mayor. The Commissioner shall also be the comptroller and treasurer of the City of Yonkers and shall perform such other duties and exercise such powers as are set forth in this charter or as are required by the Mayor.
B. 
Any reference in this Charter or in any law (general, special or local) or ordinance or resolution to the Comptroller, Deputy Comptroller, or Chief Financial Officer of the City of Yonkers shall be deemed to be a reference to the Commissioner.
C. 
There shall be two Deputy Commissioners in the Department, positions which are in the exempt class of the civil service, with power to act generally for and in the place of the Commissioner during the Commissioner's absence, disability or vacancy.
A. 
The Commissioner shall act generally for and in the place of the Mayor regarding overall supervision and control of the financial affairs and management services of the City of Yonkers and shall act generally for and in the place of the Mayor regarding direct supervision and control of the Bureau of Management Auditing.
B. 
The Commissioner shall supervise and control of the several bureaus, divisions and offices of the Department.
A. 
The Commissioner may designate another person to attend a meeting of any board, commission, committee, or other body of which the Commissioner is a member, and such replacement shall be counted toward a quorum and shall be entitled to exercise voting powers of the Commissioner. The Commissioner shall perform such other duties as may, from time to time, be prescribed by law or by ordinance of the City Council or by the Commissioner, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter or with the laws of this state.
B. 
The Commissioner, prior to discharging any duties of the office, shall execute and file with the City Clerk an official undertaking in such penal sum as may be prescribed by the City Council. Each such undertaking, when approved as provided by law, shall be filed by the City Clerk in the office of the clerk of the County of Westchester, and shall be recorded by the County Clerk in the same manner as is required in the case of an undertaking of a town receiver of taxes, and when so filed and recorded, shall have the same force and effect as such an undertaking. Commissioner shall be, ex officio, a Commissioner of Deeds.
C. 
The Commissioner may delegate duties and responsibilities to the Commissioner's subordinates.
[Amended 4-8-2014 by L.L. No 4-2014; 5-27-2014 by L.L. No. 5-2014[1]]
A. 
The Commissioner shall, acting for and in the place of the Mayor, superintend the fiscal affairs of the city, manage the same pursuant to law and ordinance of the City Council, and perform the duties enumerated herein.
(1) 
The Commissioner shall demand, collect, receive and deposit daily in such banks or trust companies as shall be designated by the City Council for such purpose all taxes and other moneys belong to or due the city from every source except as otherwise provided by law.
(2) 
The Commissioner shall have custody of all city funds and no money shall be drawn from a city depositary except on checks or drafts signed by the Commissioner or one of his or her deputies.
(3) 
Whenever in this Charter, or in any other statute, local law or ordinance applicable to the City of Yonkers, the Commissioner is authorized and directed to issue a warrant or warrants drawn upon the Treasurer or upon the treasury, the Commissioner shall, instead, be deemed to be authorized or directed to issue a check or checks or a draft or drafts.
(4) 
The Commissioner shall keep a daily account of all moneys received and disbursed on behalf of the city and shall keep a separate account with every department and for each improvement for which funds are appropriated or raised by tax or assessment.
(5) 
No check or draft shall be drawn by the Commissioner for the payment of any claim against or obligation of the city unless it states particularly against which of such funds it is drawn.
(6) 
No fund shall be overdrawn nor shall any check or draft be drawn against one fund to pay a claim chargeable to another.
(7) 
On or before the first of January, April, July and October, and at such other times as the Mayor or the City Council may direct, the Commissioner shall render a detailed report to the public, the Mayor and City Council of the funds and financial condition of the city.
(8) 
The Commissioner of Finance shall produce and issue to the public, the Mayor and the City Council a four year financial plan for the City on or before the fifteenth of April of each year. The financial plan shall be comprised of reasonable revenue estimates and all expenditures the City may reasonably experience during said period. All assumptions and forecasts shall be clearly presented within the financial plan.
(9) 
All information required to be made available to the public pursuant to Paragraphs A(7) and (8) of this section shall be posted and made available on the Internet website of the City of Yonkers within thirty days of the issuance of such information.
(10) 
The Commissioner shall perform such other and further duties, as may from time to time be prescribed by law, or by ordinance of the City Council, not inconsistent with the provision of this Charter or the other laws of the state.
B. 
Notwithstanding any provision of the Yonkers City Code or any resolution to the contrary, the Commissioner of Finance is authorized to administratively write off or otherwise discharge any account receivable in any amount not exceeding twenty-five dollars and zero cents ($25.00) which is held by the City of Yonkers against any person, organization, or entity, either public or private, however created or arising, be it by contract, open account, judgment, lien or otherwise, that is in arrears for two (2) years or more, which is determined by the Commissioner of Finance and the Corporation Counsel to be legally uncollectible or not cost effective to collect.
[1]
Editor's Note: Section 3 of this local law stated as follows: "This local law shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed repealed on January 1, 2019, except for the provisions of Section 1 of this local law, which the Commissioner of Finance shall produce and issue within fourteen days of the effective date of this local law."
No claim against the city except for a fixed salary, or for the principal or interest on a bonded or funded debt or other loan, or for the regular or stated compensation of officers or employees in any city department or for work performed or materials furnished under contract with the Board of Contract and Supply, shall be paid unless a claim therefor verified by or on behalf of the claimant, in such form as the Commissioner shall prescribe, and approved by the head of the department or officer whose action gave rise or origin to the claim, shall have been presented to the Commissioner, and shall have been audited and allowed by him or her. The Commissioner shall cause each such claim, upon presentation to him or her for audit, to be numbered consecutively and the number, date of presentation, name of claimant and brief statement of character of each claim shall be entered in a book kept for that purpose, which shall at all times during office hours be so placed to be convenient for public inspection and examination. No claim shall be audited or paid until at least five days have elapsed after its presentation to the Commissioner, and the Commissioner shall not be required to audit a claim until two weeks have expired after the expiration of such period of five days. The Commissioner is authorized, in considering a claim, to require any person presenting the same for audit to be sworn before him or her touching the justness and accuracy of such claim, and to take evidence and examine witnesses in reference to the claim, and for that purpose he may issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses. If the claimant be dissatisfied with the audit, the claimant may appeal to the City Council by serving notice of appeal in writing upon the Commissioner and the City Council within ten days after the claimant receives the Commissioner's audit. If any taxpayer be dissatisfied with such audit, the taxpayer may appeal to the City Council in like manner by serving a notice of appeal upon the claimant, and the Commissioner, within ten days after a meeting of the City Council at which such claim shall have been reported by the Commissioner. The City Council shall make the rules for the procedure upon the hearing of such appeals, and the decision and audit of the City Council after the hearing upon the appeal to it, shall be final and conclusive as to the amount of the claim; but if there be no appeal from the original audit it shall in like manner be final and conclusive. The Commissioner and the City Council upon an appeal to it, as herein provided, shall have authority to take evidence and examine witnesses in reference to the claim and for that purpose may issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses; and the Commissioner and each member of the City Council is hereby declared to be ex officio a Commissioner of Deeds. When a claim has been finally audited by the Commissioner, the Commissioner shall endorse thereon or attach thereto his or her certificate as to such audit, and the same shall thereupon be filed in and remain a public record in the Commissioner's office. If any person shall present to the Commissioner for audit a claim in the name of any person or firm other than that of the actual claimant, that person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
All moneys deposited by the Commissioner, as provided herein, shall be placed to the credit of the city. The Commissioner shall keep bankbooks in which shall be entered all accounts or deposits in, and money drawn from, the banks or trust companies in which such deposits shall be made. The banks or trust companies in which such deposits are made shall respectively transmit to the Commissioner monthly statements of the moneys which shall have been received and paid out by them on account of the city. The interest on all such deposits shall be the property of the city and shall be accounted and credited to the appropriate fund.
Whenever the words "City Treasurer" appear in any statute, local law or ordinance applicable to the City of Yonkers, such statute, local law, or ordinance shall be deemed to refer to the Commissioner and when any such statute, local law or ordinance requires the signature of both the Comptroller and the Treasurer on any document or instrument, only the signature of the Commissioner shall be required.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the Mayor may establish a petty cash account in any department or bureau under such terms and conditions as he may impose.
A. 
The Commissioner, upon written authorization by the Mayor, is hereby empowered to pay a sum of money not to exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250.) for any one (1) trip to any officer or employee of the city as an advance payment to finance expenses in connection with city business, and such officer or employee, within five (5) days after returning to the city or thirty (30) days after the payment of the advance to the officer or employee, whichever shall come first, shall file with the Commissioner a written statement of all actual and necessary travel expenses and immediately refund to the city any difference between the advance payment received and the actual and necessary travel expenses paid the officer or employee.
B. 
The Commissioner shall have the power, in exceptional cases, to extend beyond thirty (30) days the period of time within which the officer or employee receiving the advance payment must file the statement required in Subsection A of this section.
C. 
The advance payment to finance expenses in connection with city business shall be made from and charged to moneys appropriated and available in the Travel Expense Account, Number 411, of the department in which the person receiving the advance is employed.
Notwithstanding any provision of this Article to the contrary, the Commissioner may, with the approval of the Mayor, provide for the collection of taxes and other moneys belonging to the City of Yonkers by banks and trust companies and for the deposit of such taxes and moneys by said banks and trust companies into accounts belonging to the City of Yonkers under such terms and conditions as the Commissioner may impose.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, the Commissioner is authorized, upon the approval of the Mayor, to reimburse prospective city employees for their actual and necessary travel expenses in applying for a position with the City of Yonkers in such amounts as the Commissioner may deem reasonable.
A. 
There is hereby created a Bureau of Management Auditing. The head of the Bureau shall be a Director who shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Mayor. The Director so appointed shall have experience in and knowledge of accepted practice regarding the duties of his or her office.
B. 
It shall be the function of the Bureau of Management Auditing to:
(1) 
Audit all agencies of the City, and the Bureau shall be entitled to obtain access to agency records including those required by law to be kept confidential, other than records which are protected by the privileges for attorney-client communications;
(2) 
Audit financial transactions of the City, including vendor payments and payrolls;
(3) 
Audit the expenditure of City funds from any public or private agency, including but not limited to covered agencies and fiscally dependent agencies, which receive funds from the City audit the expenditure of City funds from any public or private agency, including but not limited to covered agencies and fiscally dependent agencies, which receive funds from the City;
(4) 
Audit the operations and programs of City departments and agencies to determine whether funds are being utilized effectively and economically and whether the desired goals, results or benefits of agency programs and department objectives are being achieved; and
(5) 
Audit the receipt of all City revenues.
C. 
The Bureau shall be supervised by the Commissioner, who shall act for and in the place of the Mayor. The Director shall report to the Commissioner.
There shall be in the Department of Finance and Management Services, the following bureaus:
A. 
Bureau of Purchasing.
B. 
Bureau of Assessment.
C. 
Bureau of Management and Budget.
D. 
Bureau of Administrative Adjudication.
[Amended 6-10-2014 by L.L. No. 7-2014]
E. 
Bureau of Accountancy.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection F, Parking Violations Bureau, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 6-10-2014 by L.L. No. 7-2014.