[§ 204, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 11-1963; L.L. No. 5-1974; §§ 2, 3, L.L. No. 8-1981; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
Insofar as practicable all accounting, including appropriation accounting, shall be centralized in the office of the Director of Accounting. Accounts shall be kept showing the financial transactions of all departments, bureaus, divisions, offices, commissions, courts and boards. Accounts shall also be kept showing the financial transactions relating to all appropriations and funds. The form of all accounts shall be prescribed by the Director of Finance. Accounting procedure shall be established so that accounts will record all cash receipts and disbursements, all revenues accrued and liabilities incurred and all transactions affecting the acquisition, custody and disposition of assets. The funds of the City shall be classified generally as current funds, assessment funds, loan funds, sinking funds, special funds and trust funds. For accounting purposes the Director of Finance may subdivide these funds as he or she deems proper.
[§ 205, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 4-1938; L.L. No. 1-1946; L.L. No. 2-1948; § 1, L.L. No. 9-1984[1]; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
Upon the written recommendation of the Mayor, the Council may transfer an unencumbered balance, or any part thereof, of an appropriation made for the use of one department to another or others. No such transfer shall be made of balances of revenues of the waterworks or public market. The Budget Director may, with the approval of the Mayor, transfer an unencumbered balance, or any part thereof, of any appropriation made for the use of a bureau or division to another bureau or division in the same department, and he or she may with such approval transfer an unencumbered balance, or any part thereof, of a line appropriation made for the use of a bureau or division, to another line appropriation for the same bureau or division.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was approved at referendum 11-6-1984 and took effect 1-1-1986.
[§ 206, L.L. No. 4-1925; § 1, L.L. No. 9-1984[1]]
Whenever revenues from any source other than municipal taxation are received by the City and are not otherwise appropriated or directed by law to be applied, the Council may, upon recommendation of the Mayor, appropriate such revenues as it deems proper.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was approved at referendum 11-6-1984 and took effect 1-1-1986.
[§ 207, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 2-1948; L.L. No. 4-1967; L.L. No. 8-1972; L.L. No. 5-1974; § 1, L.L. No. 11-1992; § 1, L.L. No. 3-2011]
No money shall be drawn from the treasury of the City except pursuant to appropriation or authorization made by the Council, and whenever appropriations or authorizations are so made, the City Clerk shall forthwith give notice thereof to the Director of Finance and Budget Director. The Director of Finance is authorized to assign amounts to be used for specific purposes. At the close of each fiscal year, the unassigned balance of each appropriation, except an appropriation made for a stores fund or a capital fund or a trust fund, contained in the annual appropriation ordinance or legally added thereto shall revert to the fund from which it was appropriated and shall be subject to future appropriation from such fund. An appropriation from a capital fund or a trust fund shall continue in force until the purposes for which it was made shall have been accomplished or abandoned.
[§ 23, c. 755, L. 1907; L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 4-1965; L.L. No. 8-1972[1]
No department, board, court, bureau, division, office, commission, officer or employee is permitted during any fiscal year to expend or contract to be expended any money, or to enter into any contract which by its terms involves the expenditures of money, in excess of the amounts appropriated in the annual estimate adopted by the Council or otherwise lawfully available. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the making of a contract for periods exceeding one year in a case where the City Council, by ordinance, authorizes the making of such contract.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law provided that former § 2-14 be amended and renumbered as § 6-16. Former § 6-16, Payment of rents, was renumbered as § 6-27.
[§ 209, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 2-1948; L.L. No. 11-1963; § 2, L.L. No. 8-1981]
Accounts shall be kept by the Director of Accounting for each item of appropriation or for each authorization made by the Council, and every voucher claim passed for payment on the treasury shall state specifically against which of such items or authorizations the voucher claim is drawn. Each such account kept by the Director of Accounting shall show in detail the appropriations or authorizations duly made thereto, the amount drawn thereon, the unpaid obligations charged against it and the unencumbered balance to the credit thereof.
[§ 210, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 2-1948; L.L. No. 11-1963; L.L. No. 8-1972; L.L. No. 5-1974; §§ 2, 4, L.L. No. 8-1981; § 1, L.L. No. 9-1984[1]; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
A. 
No claim against the City shall be paid unless it is evidenced by a claim voucher, approved by the head of the department for which the obligation was incurred, or by such employee or employees in the department as shall be designated by the department head by a rule or written direction filed with the Director of Finance; and each such officer and his or her surety shall be liable to the City for all loss or damage sustained by the City by reason of his or her negligent or corrupt approval of any claim voucher. For the purposes of this section, the head of any bureau, division, office, commission, court or board reporting directly to the Mayor shall be treated as a department head.
B. 
The Director of Accounting shall examine all payrolls, bills and other claims and demands against the City and, except as otherwise provided in the section, shall not pass any claim for payment unless he or she has found that the claim is in proper form, correctly computed and duly approved; that it is justly and legally due and payable; that an appropriation or authorization has been made therefor which has a sufficient balance; and that there is money in the treasury to make the payment. He or she may investigate any claim and for that purpose may summon before him or her any officer, agent or employee of city, the claimant or other person and examine him or her upon oath or affirmation relative thereto, which oath or affirmation he or she may administer. If the Director of Accounting authorized payment of any claim for which no appropriation or authorization has been made or for which there is no sufficient balance in the proper appropriation or fund or which is otherwise contrary to law or ordinance, he or she and his or her sureties shall be individually liable to the City for the amount thereof.
C. 
Except as otherwise provided in this section, no moneys of the City, including moneys collected in its behalf, and no moneys in the possession, custody or control of any officer, agent or agency of the City in his or her or its representative capacity and no moneys in or belonging to any fund or depositary which is vested in the City shall hereafter be paid, expended or refunded except upon approval by the Director of Accounting.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was approved at referendum 11-6-1984 and took effect 1-1-1986.
[§ 212, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 22-1928; L.L. No. 2-1928; L.L. No. 11-1963; L.L. No. 8-1972; L.L. No. 5-1974]
A. 
Except as otherwise provided in Subsection B of this section, no contract, agreement, purchase, order or other obligation assuming to bind the City shall be entered into by any officer, employee, agent, board, department, court, division or commission of the City unless the Director of Finance or Deputy Director of Finance shall approve such obligation. No such obligation shall be approved in an amount in excess of money appropriated or otherwise lawfully available. Nothing herein contained shall prevent the approval of a contract or other obligation for periods exceeding one year in a case where the City Council, by ordinance, authorizes the entering into of such obligation. Such approval may be evidenced by the word "Approved" and the signature of the Director of Finance or Deputy Director of Finance on such contract, agreement, purchase, order or obligation or in other appropriate manner. When the obligation is entered into or made with such approval, the sum so approved shall be considered encumbered until the City is discharged from the obligation. Any officer of the City making or voting for any contract, agreement, purchase, order or other obligation prohibited by this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
B. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, in the case of a public emergency arising out of an accident or other unforeseen occurrence or condition whereby circumstances affecting public buildings, public property or the life, health, safety or property of the inhabitants of the City require immediate action which cannot await approval as required by Subsection A of this section, but subject to the provisions of § 6-16 of the Charter of the City of Rochester, entitled "Expenditures in excess of appropriations prohibited," contracts, agreements, purchases, orders or other obligations involving the expenditure of money may be entered into by the appropriate officer, employee, agent, board, department, court, division or commission of the City without the approval of the Director of Finance or Deputy Director of Finance, provided that the approval required by Subsection A of this section shall be obtained as expeditiously as possible and in any event not later than three days after any such obligation is incurred. In the event such approval is not obtained, the contract, agreement, purchase, order or other obligation shall be forthwith terminated.
[§ 213, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 2-1948; L.L. No. 11-1963; L.L. No. 8-1972; L.L. No. 5-1974]
All moneys actually in the treasury to the credit of the fund from which they may be drawn, all moneys anticipated to be received from taxes or other sources to the amounts stated in the annual budget estimate and appropriated in the annual appropriation ordinance and other appropriations, all moneys anticipated to be received from assessments due and moneys to be derived from bonds, notes and certificates of indebtedness, either then or previously authorized, and either sold or to be sold, shall for the purpose of the Director of Finance's approval, be deemed available.
[§ 214, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 23-1928; c. 710, L. 1943 (effective 4-2-1945); § 1, L.L. No. 1-1970; § 1, L.L. No. 9-1984[1]]
All contracts, agreements or other obligations entered into contrary to the provisions of the preceding sections in this Title shall be void, and no person shall have any claim or demand against the City thereunder.
Nothing herein contained prohibits the Mayor from spending such sums as may be made available from the proceeds of budget notes issued pursuant to § 29.00 of the Local Finance Law for the prevention of the spread of or for the suppression of any contagious or infectious diseases or any epidemic in the City, in addition to the amount appropriated for such purpose or otherwise lawfully added thereto pursuant to this local law.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was approved at referendum 11-6-1984 and took effect 1-1-1986.
[§ 215, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 22-1932; L.L. No. 6-1933; L.L. No. 18-1938; L.L. No. 2-1948; L.L. No. 11-1963; L.L. No. 5-1974; § 2, L.L. No. 8-1981; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
All moneys received by the City Treasurer shall be promptly deposited and placed to the credit of the City in such banks and trust companies as the Council may designate. All interest on deposits is the property of the City and must be accounted for and credited to the proper fund. Accounts with depositories shall be verified by the Treasurer at least once in each month. No money shall be drawn from such banks or trust companies except on checks or drafts signed by the Treasurer, one of his or her deputies or one of his or her employees duly designated in writing by him or her and approved by the Council, countersigned by the Director of Finance. Such checks shall be made payable to the person entitled to receive the same unless such moneys are for public use in the Treasurer's office, in which case such checks or drafts must be made payable to the order of the Treasurer. No money shall be paid out by the Treasurer except upon the authorization of the Director of Accounting based upon an appropriation or authorization having been made therefor containing a sufficient unencumbered balance to cover the expenditure to be made thereon.
[§ 226, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 8-1956; L.L. No. 11-1963; L.L. No. 5-1974; § 1, L.L. No. 9-1984[1]]
The Director of Finance shall prepare for the Mayor for submission to the Council complete financial reports for each quarter, for each fiscal year and for such other periods as may be required by the Mayor. The annual financial report shall be printed for distribution as soon as possible after the close of each fiscal period.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was approved at referendum 11-6-1984 and took effect 1-1-1986.
[§ 227, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 4-1974; § 2, L.L. No. 8-1981; § 1, L.L. No. 9-1984[1]; § 1, L.L. No. 1-2006]
Upon the death, resignation, removal or expiration of the term of any officer of the City, other than the Director of Accounting, the Director of Accounting shall make an audit and investigation of the accounts of such officer and shall report the condition thereof to the Mayor and the Council. Either the Council or the Mayor may at any time provide for an audit or investigation of the accounts of any office or department of the City government. In case of death, resignation or removal of the Director of Accounting, the Mayor shall cause an audit to be made of his or her accounts. If, as a result of any audit or investigation, an officer be found indebted to the City, the Director of Accounting or other persons making such audit shall immediately give notice thereof to the Council, the Mayor and the Corporation Counsel, and the latter shall forthwith proceed to collect such indebtedness. The Council shall provide for an independent annual audit of the books of account, records and transactions of the administrative departments of the City and may provide for an audit at any other time. Such audits shall be made by certified public accountants holding certificates issued by the Regents of the University of the State of New York or by some other state maintaining an equal standard of professional requirements. The reports of such independent audits shall be presented by the auditors to the President of the Council. The final audit reports shall be presented by the President of the Council to the City Council, made part of the record and published in the proceedings of Council.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law was approved at referendum 11-6-1984 and took effect 1-1-1986.
[§ 186, L.L. No. 4-1925]
The several amounts contained in the annual appropriation ordinance as adopted by the Council become appropriated for the ensuing fiscal year for the several departments, bureaus, divisions, offices, courts, commissions and boards and for the purposes specified.
[§ 187, L.L. No. 4-1925; L.L. No. 3-1945; L.L. No. 5-1945; L.L. No. 8-1948; L.L. No. 10-1948; L.L. No. 11-1948; L.L. No. 11-1956]
The Council shall, at the meeting at which the appropriation ordinance is adopted, levy taxes on all real property in the City liable to assessment as set forth in the annual assessment rolls to the amount deemed by it sufficient with other revenue to produce from collection during the fiscal period the amount required to provide for interest on and principal of all indebtedness and the sums set forth in the annual budget estimate for general City and school purposes for the ensuing fiscal period. Any surplus arising from such tax reserve shall be apportioned to debt service and general current expenses in the same proportion as taxes were levied for such purposes in the fiscal period for which such surplus accrued. The amount so apportioned to debt service shall be held and applied to the reduction of debt and taxes to be levied for debt, in the fiscal period following its accrual.
[§ 228, L.L. No. 4-1925; as added by L.L. No. 7-1933; L.L. No. 8-1972;[1] L.L. No. 5-1974; § 5, L.L. No. 8-1981]
No rights or privileges shall be exercised under any written lease or grant of concessions or privileges by the City until there is endorsed thereon by the Director of Finance or Deputy Director of Finance a certificate to the effect that the rents or other charges which are therein provided to be paid in advance, are paid in advance; and no such lease or grant shall be valid until the said endorsement appears thereon.
[1]
Editor's Note: L.L. No. 8-1972 provided for this section, which was formerly § 6-16, to be renumbered as § 6-27.
[L.L. No. 8-1972; L.L. No. 5-1974]
Whenever any contract made on behalf of the City includes a provision for liquidated damages for delay, the City Council, upon recommendation of the Director of Finance, is authorized and empowered to remit the whole or any part of such damages as in its discretion may be just and equitable.
[§ 1, L.L. No. 2-2006]
A. 
This policy is consistent with the State Technology Law, § 208, as added by Chapters 442 and 491 of the Laws of 2005. This policy requires notification to impacted New York residents and nonresidents. The City values the protection of private information of individuals. The City shall notify an individual when there has been or is reasonably believed to have been a compromise of the individual's private information in compliance with the Information Security Breach and Notification Act and this policy.
B. 
Definitions. When used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:
BREACH OF THE SECURITY OF THE SYSTEM
Unauthorized acquisition or acquisition without valid authorization of computerized data which compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information maintained by the City. Good-faith acquisition of personal information by an employee or agent of the City for the purposes of the City is not a breach of the security of the system, provided that the private information is not used or subject to unauthorized disclosure. In determining whether information has been acquired, or is reasonably believed to have been acquired, by an unauthorized person or a person without valid authorization, the City may consider the following factors, among others:
(1) 
Indications that the information is in the physical possession and control of an unauthorized person, such as a lost or stolen computer or other device containing information; or
(2) 
Indications that the information has been downloaded or copied; or
(3) 
Indications that the information was used by an unauthorized person, such as fraudulent accounts opened or instances of identity theft reported.
CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY
Any person which, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties, and which uses any means or facility of interstate commerce for the purpose of preparing or furnishing consumer reports. The City may request a list of consumer reporting agencies from the State Attorney General when required to make a notification under Subsection C of this section.
PRIVATE INFORMATION
Personal information in combination with any one or more of the following data elements, when either the personal information or the data element is not encrypted or encrypted with an encryption key that has also been acquired: (1) social security number; (2) driver's license number or nondriver identification card number; or (3) account number, credit or debit card number, in combination with any required security code, access code, or password which would permit access to an individual's financial account. Private information does not include publicly available information that is lawfully made available to the general public from federal, state, or local government records.
C. 
Where the City owns or licenses computerized data that includes private information, the City shall disclose any breach of the security of the system following discovery or notification of the breach in the security of the system to any person whose private information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by a person without valid authorization. The disclosure shall be made in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, consistent with the legitimate needs of law enforcement, as provided in Subsection E of this section, or any measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore the reasonable integrity of the data system.
D. 
Where the City maintains computerized data that includes private information which the City does not own, the City shall notify the owner or licensee of the information of any breach of the security of the system immediately following discovery, if the private information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by a person without valid authorization.
E. 
The notification required by this section may be delayed if a law enforcement agency determines that such notification impedes a criminal investigation. The notification required by this section shall be made after such law enforcement agency determines that such notification does not compromise such investigation.
F. 
The notice required by this section shall be directly provided to the affected persons by one of the following methods:
(1) 
Written notice;
(2) 
Electronic notice, provided that the person to whom notice is required has expressly consented to receiving said notice in electronic form and a log of each such notification is kept by the City; provided further, however, that in no case shall any person or business require a person to consent to accepting said notice in said form as a condition of establishing any business relationship or engaging in any transaction;
(3) 
Telephone notification provided that a log of each such notification is kept by the City; or
(4) 
Substitute notice, if the Director of Finance determines that the cost of providing notice would exceed $250,000, or that the affected class of subject persons to be notified exceeds 500,000, or the City does not have sufficient contact information. Substitute notice shall consist of all of the following:
(a) 
E-mail notice when the City has an e-mail address for the subject persons;
(b) 
Conspicuous posting of the notice on the City's web site page; and
(c) 
Notification to local media.
G. 
Regardless of the method by which notice is provided, such notice shall include contact information for the City and a description of the categories of information that were, or are reasonably believed to have been, acquired by a person without valid authorization, including specification of which of the elements of personal information and private information were, or are reasonably believed to have been, so acquired.
H. 
(1) 
In the event that any New York residents are to be notified, the City shall notify the State Attorney General, the Consumer Protection Board, and the State Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination as to the timing, content and distribution of the notices and approximate number of affected persons. Such notice shall be made without delaying notice to affected New York residents.
(2) 
In the event that more than 5,000 New York residents are to be notified at one time, the City shall also notify consumer reporting agencies as to the timing, content and distribution of the notices and approximate number of affected persons. Such notice shall be made without delaying notice to affected New York residents.