The fiscal year of the Town shall begin on the first day of July and end on the last day of the following June; provided, however, that the electors at the Financial Town Meeting, upon recommendation of the Town Council may change the dates of the fiscal year.
All budget requests from Town officials, departments and agencies shall be submitted to the Council no later than February 15 through the Town Clerk. Each such request shall be accompanied by a breakdown of its proposed expenditures with appropriate supporting information and, if applicable, estimates of revenues during the fiscal year. The Council may from year to year appoint a Budget Committee to assist in the development of the Council's recommended budget.
The Town Council shall hold a public hearing on its preliminary recommended budget prior to final adoption for presentation at the Financial Town Meeting, which hearing shall take place no less than 45 days prior to the date for said meeting.
At least 10 days prior to the date for the Financial Town Meeting the Council shall cause to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town a summary of the proposed budget as adopted for presentation at the Financial Town Meeting, and as prescribed in the State Property Tax and Fiscal Disclosure Law.[1] The Council shall insure compliance with all other provisions of said law, and the provisions of State law pertaining to the maximum tax which towns may levy, as the said laws may be amended from time to time with. Copies of the Town Council's proposed budget as it is to be presented at the Financial Town Meeting shall be available to the electors at the Town Hall no later than 10 days prior to the date of said meeting.
[1]
Editor's Note: See R.I.G.L. § 44-35-1 et seq.
The Council shall provide by ordinance for the orderly review and preparation of a program for capital expenditures by the Town. Such ordinance shall specify a six-year plan for the acquisition, development and/or improvement of the Town's facilities, infrastructure and capital projects. Such ordinance shall also provide for projections and planning by all Town departments, offices, boards, commissions and other agencies.
The Council shall appoint a purchasing agent for the Town by designating a present Town official, other than the Town Treasurer or Deputy Treasurer, to assume this additional responsibility. The Council shall also provide by ordinance policies and procedures to govern the making of purchases by and on behalf of the Town, in conformity with Title 45, Chapter 55 of the Rhode Island General Laws, as amended, relating to the award of municipal contracts, and other applicable provision of State law.[1] Such policies and procedures shall be designed to insure that Town funds are expended in the most efficient and economical manner possible, and to provide maximum value per dollar expended in all purchases of goods and services.
A. 
The purchasing procedures shall require that all purchases and contracts executed on behalf of the Town be made 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 until the Treasurer shall have certified that there is sufficient unencumbered appropriation balance to the credit of such office, department or agency to pay for the supplies, material, equipment or contractual services for which the contract or order is to be issued. The Council shall not authorize final payment in any such instance until it is satisfied that proper procedures have been followed and payment is in order.
B. 
All applicable requirements of State law, specifically Title 45, Chapter 55 of the Rhode Island General Laws, as amended, shall be observed by the Town and shall be incorporated into its formal purchasing procedures; provided, however, that all purchases for a single item or order in an amount exceeding $5,000, or for a single construction project to cost an amount exceeding $10,000, shall be made or the contract let through the sealed bid process or one of the alternative procedures provided in Title 45, Chapter 55 of the Rhode Island General Laws. All purchases for amounts between $1,000 and $5,000 shall be made on the basis of the solicitation of at least three telephone bids, written record of which shall be filed with each purchase order, and purchases in amounts less than $1,000 may be made pursuant to such small purchase ordinance as the Council shall adopt.
C. 
Any contract, verbal or written, made in violation of any provision of this Charter or of any ordinance made under the authority thereof, or of applicable State law, shall be null and void, and any cost incurred thereby shall be borne by the Town official or employee responsible for such violation unless he or she acted upon the legal advice of the Town Solicitor.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 50, Purchasing.
Every appropriation, except those for capital expenditure, or those authorized from specially dedicated funds, shall lapse at the close of a fiscal year and any unexpended or unencumbered balance revert to the general fund, unless re-appropriated at the Financial Town Meeting. An appropriation for a capital expenditure shall continue in force until the purpose for which it was made has been accomplished or abandoned.
To meet a public emergency as defined in Section 411, Subsection A above, the Council may make emergency appropriations using the emergency ordinance procedure set forth in Section 411. To the extent that there are insufficient funds available to meet such appropriations, the Council may by emergency ordinance authorize the issuance of emergency notes, which may be renewed from time to time. The Council shall include a proposed liquidation plan in its budget proposal for the fiscal year next succeeding that in which the emergency appropriation was made.
All fees received by any office, department or employee of the Town shall belong to the Town and shall be recorded, receipted for and conveyed at such intervals as the Council by ordinance may require to the Town Treasurer for deposit in the general account or accounts or in such specifically designated accounts as may have been established by the Financial Town Meeting, except as otherwise provided in this Charter or in the General Laws of Rhode Island.
There shall be included by the Town Council in the budget to be proposed at the Financial Town Meeting a line item to provide a contingency fund to be used by the Council to meet unanticipated expenses for which there is no provision or insufficient provision in the budget as adopted, or to meet emergency needs for expenditure which might arise during the fiscal year.