The fiscal year of the Town shall begin on the first day of July and shall end on the last day of June, unless another period is required by general law.
(a) 
Public Hearing - At least 21 days before the meeting at which the School Committee is scheduled to vote on its final budget request, the School Committee shall cause to be published in a local newspaper a general summary of its proposed budget. The summary shall specifically indicate any major variations from the current budget and the reasons for such changes. The notice shall further indicate the times and places at which complete copies of the proposed budget are available for examination by the public, and it shall indicate the date, time and place (not less than seven nor more than 14 days following such publication), when a public hearing will be held by the School Committee on the proposed budget. The School Committee shall not take its final vote on its proposed budget until all persons who desire to be heard concerning the budget proposal have had a reasonable opportunity to be heard.
(b) 
Submission to Mayor - The proposed budget adopted by the School Committee shall be submitted to the Mayor at least 21 days before the date the Mayor is required to submit a proposed Town budget to the Town Council, to allow the Mayor sufficient time within which to consider the effect the School Department's requested appropriation will have upon the total Town operating budget the Mayor is required to submit to the Town Council under this article.
The action of the School Committee in adopting the proposed budget, following the public hearing, shall be summarized and the results of a roll call vote taken on each amendment to the proposed budget as may be offered shall be recorded.
[Amended 11-8-2005]
Not later than 60 days before the start of the Town's fiscal year, the Mayor shall submit to the Town Council a proposed operating budget for the ensuing fiscal year with an accompanying budget message and supporting documents. The Mayor shall simultaneously provide for the publication in a local newspaper of a notice and a general summary of the proposed budget. The summary shall specifically indicate any major variations from the current operating budget and the reason for such changes. The notice shall further indicate the times and places at which complete copies of the proposed operating budget for the Town are available for examination by the public.
The budget message of the Mayor shall explain the budget for all Town agencies both in fiscal terms and in terms of work programs. It shall outline proposed financial policies of the Town for the ensuing fiscal year, describe important features of the budget; indicate any major variations from the current fiscal year in financial policies, expenditures and revenues together with the reasons for such changes, summarize the Town's debt position and include other material as the Mayor deems desirable, or as may be required by the provisions of a Town ordinance.
The proposed operating budget shall provide a complete financial plan for all Town funds and Town activities for the ensuing fiscal year. Except as may otherwise be required by general law, or this Charter, it shall be in the form which the Mayor deems desirable or as a Town ordinance may require. In the presentation of the budget, the Mayor shall utilize modern concepts of fiscal presentation so as to furnish an optimum level of information and the best financial control. The budget shall show in detail all estimated income from the proposed property tax levy and from all other sources and all proposed expenditures, including debt service, for the fiscal year. The budget shall be arranged to show the actual and estimated income and expenditures for the previous, current and ensuing fiscal years and shall indicate in separate sections:
1. 
Proposed expenditures for current operations during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed by Town agency and position, in terms of work programs, and the method of financing such expenditures;
2. 
Proposed capital expenditures during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed by Town agency, and the proposed method of financing each such capital expenditure;
3. 
The relationship of each proposed capital expenditure to the capital improvement program required to be submitted under Section 5-10; and
4. 
Estimated surplus revenue and free cash at the end of the current fiscal year, including estimated balances in any special accounts established for specific purposes.
(a) 
Public Hearing - Forthwith upon its receipt of the proposed operating budget, the Town Council shall provide for the publication in a local newspaper of a notice stating the time and place, not less than seven nor more than 14 days following such publication, at which it will hold a public hearing on the proposed operating budget as submitted by the Mayor.
(b) 
Review - The Town Council shall consider, in open public meetings, the detailed expenditures proposed for each Town agency and may confer with representatives of each such agency in connection with its review and consideration. The Town Council may require the Mayor, or any other Town agency, to furnish it with such additional information as it may deem necessary to assist it in its review and consideration of the proposed operating budget.
(c) 
Action by Town Council - The Town Council shall adopt the operating budget, with or without amendments, within 60 days following the day the proposed operating budget is received by it. In amending the operating budget, the Town Council may delete or decrease any programs or amounts except expenditures required by law, or for debt service, but the Town Council shall have no authority to add programs or increase amounts. If the Town Council fails to take any action with respect to any item in the proposed operating budget within 60 days following the date of its receipt of the proposed operating budget, such amount shall, without any action by the Town Council, become a part of the appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year and shall be available for the purposes specified.
[Amended 11-8-2005; 11-3-2009]
(a) 
Intradepartmental transfers - With the approval of the Mayor, funds appropriated for one line item within the appropriation made for a particular municipal agency may be transferred to another line item within the same municipal agency. Whenever such a transfer is authorized by the Mayor, notice of the transfer and the circumstances under which such transfer was deemed advisable shall be filed with the Clerk of the Town Council.
(b) 
Interdepartmental transfers - With the approval of the Town Council, funds appropriated to the use of one municipal agency may be transferred to the use of another municipal agency. Requests for the transfer of funds from one municipal agency to another shall be made by the Mayor, in writing, to the Town Council and shall include a statement setting forth the reason the additional funds are needed by the agency to which it is proposed they be transferred. The request by the Mayor shall be accompanied by a certificate, signed by the head of the agency from which the appropriation is proposed to be taken, that such transfer will not prevent that agency from performing its vital functions. A copy of this request shall, forthwith, be posted on the Town bulletin board. The Town Council shall, by ordinance, provide a procedure governing such requests, which shall include at least two readings and a public hearing by the Town Council, and it shall specify the circumstances under which notice by publication in a newspaper shall be required.
(c) 
Appropriation - Whenever the Mayor shall submit to the Town Council a request for a new appropriation of any sum of money, either as a supplement to some item in the annual operating budget or for an item, or items, not included in the annual operating budget as adopted, the Town Council shall not act upon such request until it has (1) given public notice of the request, and (2) held a public hearing concerning such request. The Town Council shall, by ordinance, determine the level of appropriation request above which amount newspaper publication will be required and below which amount posting on the Town bulletin boards will be sufficient.
(d) 
Reserve transfers - With the approval of the Town Council, funds appropriated and deposited in accounts designated as "reserve account" may be transferred from one municipal agency to another. Requests for such transfers shall be made by the Mayor, in writing, to the Town Council and shall include a statement setting forth the reason for the transfer of funds. A copy of this request shall, forthwith, be posted on the Town bulletin board.
[Added 11-3-2009]
[Amended 11-3-2009]
The Town shall maintain an accounting system by which monthly reports are prepared by the Municipal Finance Director detailing the preceding monthly expenditures and the remaining balances within the departments' yearly budget total. Within 10 days of completion, the Municipal Finance Director shall cause a summary of said reports to be filed with the Town Council.
No official of the Town of West Springfield, except in the case of an emergency involving the health and safety of the people or their property, shall intentionally expend in any fiscal year any sum in excess of the appropriations duly made in accordance with law, nor involve the Town in any contract for the future payment of money in excess of such appropriations. It is the intention of this section that the provisions of Section 31 of Chapter 44 of the General Laws shall be strictly enforced.
Any official who violates the provisions of this section shall be personally liable to the Town for any amounts so expended to the extent the Town does not recover such amounts from the person to whom such sums were paid.
[Amended 11-8-2005]
The Mayor shall submit a capital improvement program to the Town Council at least 90 days before the start of each fiscal year. The capital improvement program shall be based on material prepared by the capital improvement program committee established by ordinance. It shall include:
A clear and concise general summary of its contents;
A list of all capital improvements proposed to be undertaken during the next ensuing five years, with supporting information as to the need for each capital improvement; cost estimates, methods of financing and recommended time schedules for each improvement; and
The estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining each facility and piece of major equipment involved.
This information is to be annually revised by the Mayor with regard to the capital improvements still pending or in the process of being acquired, improved or constructed.
The Town Council shall annually provide for an outside audit of the books and accounts of the Town to be made by a certified public accountant, or a firm of certified public accountants, who have no personal interest, direct or indirect, in the fiscal affairs of the Town or any of its officers. The Mayor shall annually provide to the Town Council a sum of money sufficient to satisfy the estimated cost of conducting the audit as presented to the Mayor, in writing, by the Town Council. The award of a contract to audit shall be made by the Town Council, on the recommendation of its Budget/Management Committee on or before September 15 of each year. The Budget/Management Committee shall coordinate the work of the individual or firm selected with the municipal officials. The report of the audit shall be filed in final form with the Town Council and the Budget/Management Committee not later than March 1 in the year following its award.