There shall be a Board of Finance of eight regular members, and three alternate members, who shall be electors and taxpayers of the Town. They shall hold no other office of trust or emolument in the Town or State governments. Service on committees of the Town or State governments is not prohibited by this section, provided that such service does not create a conflict of interest as defined in the Town Code of Ethics. No member thereof shall receive compensation for services as such, but the necessary expenses of the Board, when funds have been appropriated therefor by the Town Council, shall be paid by the Treasurer. There shall be minority representation on the Board and on the panel of alternates in accordance with § 9-167a of the General Statutes.
The Selectmen shall annually in November after election day appoint, subject to confirmation by an affirmative vote of seven members of the Town Council, two members of the Board of Finance, who, after qualification, shall hold office for a term of four years from the 15th day of November and until their successors have been appointed and shall have qualified. The Selectmen shall appoint in the odd-numbered years on or promptly after the first day of December, subject to confirmation by an affirmative vote of seven members of the Town Council, the three alternate members of the Board of Finance, who shall hold office for a term of two years from the first day of December until their successors have been appointed and shall have qualified. No appointment to the Board of Finance to fill a vacancy shall be effective unless confirmed by an affirmative vote of seven members of the Town Council.
In addition to the eight regular members of the Board of Finance, the First Selectman shall be an ex officio member of the Board of Finance and shall have no vote except in the case of a tie. On or promptly after the 15th day of November each year, the Board of Finance shall meet at the call of the First Selectman to choose one of its regular members to be Chairman and one of its regular members to be Secretary. The First Selectman shall not serve as Chairman or Secretary.
The Chairman shall preside and vote, when present, at all meetings of the Board of Finance. In the absence of the Chairman, the Board shall choose one of its regular members Chairman pro tempore who shall preside and vote. The Secretary shall file in the office of the Town Clerk a full and detailed record of all proceedings, acts and resolutions of the Board, including the votes of each member on all actions taken, and such record shall be a public record.
The alternate members of the Board of Finance, when seated as provided herein, shall have all the powers and duties of regular members of the Board of Finance. Alternate members shall have no vote, and shall not count towards a quorum or for other purposes, unless seated for a regular member. In the event of the absence of a regular member from a meeting of the Board, or if a regular member is disqualified, such absent or disqualified member shall designate an alternate to act in his or her place. In the absence of such designation, the Board of Finance, by majority vote of those members present and voting, shall designate and seat an alternate or alternates.
At all meetings of the Board of Finance, five members shall be a quorum and the concurrence of five votes shall be necessary for the transaction of business, except that when only five members are present, the concurrence of four votes shall be sufficient for the transaction of business.
The Town Council, all officers, department heads, boards, commissions and committees of the Town and the New Canaan Library shall annually not later than the third Tuesday preceding the first Tuesday in February submit to the Selectmen, in a form prescribed by the Board of Finance, itemized estimates of their respective requests for appropriations to cover such expenses, together with statements in detail of their respective expenditures for similar purposes for the preceding fiscal year and such other information as may from time to time be required by the Board of Finance. The Selectmen shall review such estimates or requests, including the preliminary budget estimates submitted by the Board of Education, and shall compile a recommended budget which shall be submitted to the Board of Finance for its consideration not later than the first Tuesday of February in each year. The Board of Education shall submit its preliminary budget estimates to the Board of Selectmen, for its review and comment, not later than the third Tuesday preceding the first Tuesday in February, and shall compile and submit its recommended budget directly to the Board of Finance, with a copy to the Board of Selectmen, not later than the first Tuesday in February in each year.
All officers, department heads, boards, commissions and committees shall submit annually to the Selectmen, with the estimates of their respective expenses for the ensuing fiscal year and in a form prescribed by the Board of Finance, an outline of the estimated capital expenditures of such office, board, commission or committee during the next five fiscal years. The Selectmen shall consider such outlines and shall submit to the Board of Finance, not later than two weeks after the first Tuesday of February, a recommended budget of such capital expenditures, including such recommendation as they desire as to the creation of a reserve therefor in the Town budget for the ensuing fiscal year.
The Board of Finance may recommend to the Town Council the establishment of a system of retirement payments or pensions for officers or employees of the Town, including employees of the New Canaan Library employed prior to January 1, 2011, in consideration of years of service, age or disability, and may recommend the amount and duration of such payments or pensions. The Town Council, after publication once a week for two successive weeks, together with a simultaneous posting of a warning of the meeting of the Town Council which is to act upon the recommendation of the Board of Finance, may approve or reject any such recommendation, but may not increase the amount or duration of such retirement payments or pensions or change the beneficiaries thereof. The Board of Finance, in its annual recommendation for appropriations to cover Town expenditures for each fiscal year, may likewise include provision for group insurance covering officers or employees of the Town. Any existing system of retirement payments or pensions shall remain in effect until modified under the provisions of this section.
The Board of Finance, after receipt of the recommended budget from the Board of Selectmen and after obtaining any further information which it may require, shall prepare tentative budget recommendations. The Board of Finance shall cause such recommendations to be published at least once, together with a notice fixing the time of a public hearing which shall be held not later than the sixth Tuesday following the first Tuesday of February; and the place where such hearing shall be held by the Board of Finance upon requests for appropriations, to hear all persons, including members of the Board of Finance, who may wish to be heard in respect to any such recommendations or who may wish the Board of Finance to recommend any other appropriation or any other matter within the power of the Board of Finance.
After such public hearing, the Board of Finance forthwith shall hold a meeting or meetings to consider the estimates and requests so presented. The Board of Finance shall thereupon prepare and present its recommendations to the Board of Selectmen, for submission to the Town Council, for appropriations to cover Town expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year. Such recommendations may also include appropriations to pay any part of the Town debt or to provide a fund for any public improvement or any other matter within the power of the Board of Finance and to provide a contingent fund for expenses of the Town not otherwise provided for, which contingent fund, when appropriated by the Town Council, shall be subject to disbursement by the Board of Finance. Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a limitation upon the Board of Finance in the disbursement of the whole or any part of the Town contingent fund.
All such recommendations for appropriations shall be classified under proper headings and shall be accompanied by an estimate, made by the Board of Finance, of the amount of revenue the Town will receive during such fiscal year from all sources, except that of taxation, and an itemized list of the debts and obligations of the Town as of the date of the meeting or meetings following the public hearing of the Board of Finance and a detailed statement showing the amount of increase or decrease of the proposed appropriation as compared to the last previous appropriation made by the Town Council for like purpose. Such recommendations shall include the amount of any unexpended balances or surplus to be applied against appropriations and a reserve for uncollectible taxes; provided, however, that if the Town Council shall reduce the proposed appropriations so recommended and published by an amount exceeding 5%, then in that event, the amount of unexpended balances or surplus to be applied shall be reconsidered by the Board of Finance for final action.
The recommendations for appropriations so prepared by the Board of Finance shall be delivered to the Selectmen not later than the seventh Tuesday following the first Tuesday of February in each year in the form of a written report signed by the Chairman of the Board of Finance and a majority of its members. The Selectmen shall forthwith cause to be published once a week for two successive weeks a notice of a meeting of the Town Council to act upon such recommendations, stating the time and place thereof. The first of such notices shall include the publication of the recommendations of the Board of Finance. Such meeting of the Town Council shall be held not later than 11 weeks after the first Tuesday of February in each year.
The Town Council shall take action upon each of the proposed appropriations so recommended and published. It may approve, disapprove or reduce but may not increase the amount of such appropriations or any of them or the amount of any unexpended balances or surplus to be applied or any reserve for any uncollectible taxes; and no appropriation shall be made for any purpose not recommended and published as hereinbefore provided. If a recommendation of the Board of Finance pertains to some matter other than a money appropriation, then the Town Council shall act thereon in such case as provided in this Charter.
Whenever the Board of Selectmen or the First Selectman requests a special appropriation, or whenever a special appropriation, in the opinion of the Board of Finance, shall be necessary for any purpose, the Board of Finance shall deliver a recommendation to the Selectmen and the Selectmen shall present the recommendation to a meeting of the Town Council or may present the recommendation of the Board of Finance to a meeting called for that purpose, whereupon the Selectmen shall forthwith cause to be published once a week for two successive weeks a notice of a meeting of the Town Council to consider and act upon the recommendation of the Board of Finance for such special appropriation, which notice shall state the time and place thereof. The Board of Finance shall also include in its recommendation that such special appropriation shall be paid from moneys in the Town treasury not otherwise appropriated or by the levying of a special tax. If and when such special appropriation shall be made by the Town Council and the levying of a special tax to pay such special appropriation shall be approved by the Town Council, the Board of Finance shall lay a special tax upon the grand list last completed and fix the date or dates upon which such special tax shall become due and payable and shall thereupon issue a warrant to the Tax Collector to receive and collect the same in the manner provided by the General Statutes for the collection of taxes.
The Board of Finance may recommend the issuance of the bonds of the Town, in the form and subject to the limitations required by law, for any public purpose and the Board of Finance shall deliver a recommendation to the Selectmen as to such bond issue, and the Selectmen shall forthwith cause to be published once a week for two successive weeks a notice of a meeting of the Town Council to consider and act upon such recommendation of the Board of Finance stating the time and place thereof. Such recommendation and the notice shall contain a full and complete statement of the purpose or purposes for which bonds are to be issued and the amount and general terms thereof. The Town Council may approve, disapprove or reduce the amount of such proposed bond issue, but may not increase the same nor change the terms thereof. Such bonds, if and as approved by the Town Council, shall be executed and signed by the First Selectman and the Town Treasurer and the Town Clerk shall affix thereto the seal of the Town and attest to the same.
In cases where special taxes shall be levied to provide funds for special improvements, the Board of Finance may, after holding its public hearing duly warned by publication at least once, at which all persons whose property may be affected shall be heard, designate what property shall be subject to special assessments for special benefits and the amount thereof and the date or dates upon which such special assessments shall become due and payable, and shall thereupon issue a warrant to the Tax Collector to receive and collect the same on the date or dates so fixed for such payment in accordance with the manner provided in the General Statutes for the collection of taxes. All such special assessments shall be borne equally by all property similarly situated, benefited or affected.
There shall be a sewer taxing district in the Town. The Board of Finance shall in the annual request for appropriations recommend to the Town Council the method by which moneys shall be raised that are necessary to maintain and operate the public sewerage system or systems and to pay the interest and principal of all sewer and filtration bonds heretofore issued by the Town and outstanding at the time this Charter shall take effect or which may hereafter be issued. Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, the Board of Finance by resolution may from time to time include in the existing sewer taxing district additional areas of the Town.
The Board of Finance, in laying any special assessment in connection with the extension or improvement of the sewage disposal system in the Town, is authorized to proceed in accordance with the General Statutes, but no assessment or charge for the extension of the sewage disposal system into unsewered areas shall be less than 100% of the cost thereof, except under circumstances found by the Board of Finance to be unusual and extraordinary or to involve undue hardship.
The Town Council may vote to abolish the sewer taxing district and thereafter all charges for operation and maintenance of the public sewage disposal system and for the payment of interest and amortization of all sewer and filtration bonds shall be included in the annual request for appropriations made by the Board of Finance to the Town Council. In the event of the adoption of such action by the Town Council, the Town Council and the Town Clerk shall certify such action to the State Commissioner of Revenue Services, the Office of Policy and Management, and to the Secretary of the State.
The Board of Finance may recommend the establishment of special tax districts by delivery of a recommendation to the Selectmen, and the Selectmen shall forthwith cause to be published once a week for two successive weeks a notice of a meeting of the Town Council to consider and act upon the recommendation of the Board of Finance, stating the time and place thereof. The recommendation shall set forth the purposes and conditions governing such special tax districts and shall fix the boundaries thereof. No such district shall be established unless the recommendations of the Board of Finance shall be approved by the Town Council and unless a majority of the electors resident in such proposed district and the owners of real property located therein have consented thereto by written ballot cast at a special election called for such purpose in each of the proposed districts. If the Town Council approves such recommendations, it shall fix the date, time and place or places of such special elections and provide the usual facilities for holding the same, and the Board of Finance, together with the Town Council, shall make an appropriation to cover the necessary expenses thereof.
The Tax Collector shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen and shall serve at the pleasure of the Selectmen. The Tax Collector shall have such powers and perform such duties, under the direction of the Board of Selectmen, as may be prescribed by the General Statutes. The Tax Collector shall not hold any other office in the Town government or engage in any business in the Town that could create a conflict of interest as defined in the Town Code of Ethics. Service on committees of the Town government is not prohibited by this section, provided that such service does not create a conflict of interest as defined in the Town Code of Ethics.
The Board of Finance shall issue a warrant to the Tax Collector to receive and collect any regular or special tax laid under the provisions of this Charter, which warrant shall specify the grand list upon which such tax is laid and the date or dates when it shall become due and payable. Such warrant shall be signed by the Chairman of the Board of Finance and a majority thereof. The Town Clerk shall affix thereto the Town seal and attest to the same.
The Board of Finance, in fixing the dates as to when taxes shall become due and payable, may provide that the taxes on personal property or taxes on real property, or both, shall become due and payable in one or more installments. The provisions of the General Statutes as now or hereafter amended, shall be applicable to delinquent regular taxes or to delinquent special taxes laid under the provisions of this Charter.
The liens on property for taxes annually laid by the Town of New Canaan on any grand list shall date from the first day of July next preceding the completion of the lists upon which such taxes shall be laid.
Lien fees collected by and paid to the Tax Collector of the Town in accordance with the provisions of the General Statutes shall be credited to the general fund thereof.
The Board of Finance, upon recommendation of the Director of Public Works, shall have power to establish equitable rates, and from time to time revise such rates, for the use of any system of public water supply authorized by the Town Council, to be paid by the owner of each lot or building receiving the benefits thereof, provided such rates shall be so computed as to provide revenue sufficient to meet the cost of maintaining and operating such system and to pay the cost of interest and amortization on all outstanding water supply bonds hereafter issued by the Town. Such rates shall be collected in the manner provided by the General Statutes for the collection of taxes.
The Board of Finance shall make an appropriation sufficient to pay any judgment rendered against the Town by a court of competent jurisdiction when, in the opinion of the Board of Finance, all reasonable legal defenses or remedies have been invoked. The moneys necessary to pay such appropriation may be withdrawn for that purpose from funds in the Town treasury not otherwise appropriated, if the same be sufficient. Should the money in the Town treasury available for such purpose be insufficient, the Board of Finance may, by resolution, authorize the Treasurer to borrow the amount necessary. The sum so borrowed shall be included by the Board in the next tax levy upon the grand list of the Town last completed and the Board of Finance shall fix the rate thereof in an amount sufficient to provide the moneys necessary to pay such judgment with the interest due thereon and fix the date or dates when such tax shall be due and payable. The Board shall thereupon issue its warrant, in the form prescribed in § C5-20 hereof, to the Tax Collector to receive and collect the same.
There shall be an Audit Committee of five members who shall be electors of the Town. The members shall serve without compensation and shall hold no other office of trust or emolument in the Town government nor serve on any other committees of the Town government. No member may accept any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from the Town, nor shall a member have had any material financial relationship with the Town in the three years prior to appointment to the Committee. Additional qualifications are defined by Town Ordinance, as amended.
The Board of Selectmen shall appoint members of the Audit Committee, subject to confirmation by an affirmative vote of seven members of the Town Council, for a term of three years to begin on December 1st each year, with two members to be appointed the first year, two members to be appointed the second year, and one member to be appointed the third year. Members may serve for no more than three successive three-year terms or part thereof.
Each member, after qualification, shall hold office from their initial appointment and until a successor has been appointed and shall have qualified. In the event of a vacancy due to death, resignation or removal, within 60 days of such vacancy the Selectmen will appoint a successor member of the Committee. There shall be minority representation on the Committee in accordance with § 9-167a of the General Statutes.
On or promptly after the first day of December in each year the Audit Committee shall meet at the call of the First Selectman to choose one of its members to be Chairman and one of its members to be Secretary. The Chairman shall, when present, preside at all meetings of the Committee and shall have a vote as a member thereof. In the absence of the Chairman or Secretary, as the case may be, the Committee shall choose one of its members Chairman pro tempore or one of its members Secretary pro tempore. Three members shall be a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting.
The Secretary shall file in the office of the Town Clerk agendas and minutes of all meetings of the Committee, including the votes of each member on all actions taken.
The Committee shall prepare and send an annual report of its activities to the Town Bodies within sixty days after filing of the financial statements with the State Office of Policy and Management.
Subject to Town Ordinance, as amended, the purpose of the Audit Committee is to assist the Town Bodies (Board of Selectmen, Town Council, Board of Finance and Board of Education) in fulfilling the Town Bodies' respective oversight responsibilities relating to:
A. 
The integrity of the Town's financial statements, financial reporting processes and systems of internal accounting and controls;
B. 
The annual independent audit of the Town's financial statements, the engagement of the independent auditors and the evaluation of the independent auditors' qualifications, independence and performance;
C. 
Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements that could materially impact the Town's financial statements;
D. 
The evaluation of enterprise risk issues;
E. 
The engagement of the internal audit resources and ensuring the adequacy and completeness of an internal audit annual plan and related resources, receiving the related reports, and evaluating the internal auditor(s) qualifications, independence and performance; and
F. 
Overseeing the Town's plan for corrective action which should include appropriate and timely follow-up measures.
In performing the Committee's duties, members may reasonably rely upon management to prepare financial statements in accordance with applicable standards and to maintain an effective system of internal controls that provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability of financial reporting.
Any person, group or organization receiving funds from the Town of New Canaan to be disbursed for public purposes shall keep records of the method and manner in which such funds received from the Town are expended, shall submit to the Board of Selectmen annual reports in a form prescribed by that Board, setting forth the details of the expenditures of such funds, and shall submit such records for audit by the Town Auditors.
The Town shall maintain a system of accounting for keeping records to show amounts of current and past taxes and all types of liabilities of each taxpaying entity and the collections, adjustments, charges and abatements. The Town shall maintain its financial records in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and in compliance with the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The Town Finance Department shall maintain sound internal controls, including appropriate separation of duties. The Town shall annually hire an independent accounting firm to audit the financial books of the Town, and require the firm to submit a formal audit report to the Town Council, Board of Finance, and the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management to ensure that the Town is in compliance with the provisions of the General Statutes.
A. 
The Board of Finance may, by resolution, transfer unexpended balances from one appropriation to another, but no amount appropriated for any purpose, whether general or special, shall be used or appropriated for other purposes without the approval of the Board of Finance, expressed by resolution thereof. Unexpended cash balances remaining at the end of any fiscal year may, by resolution of the Board of Finance, be either transferred to a surplus account or subtracted from the amount the Town Council has authorized to be raised by taxation for the ensuing fiscal year.
B. 
All uncommitted appropriations for capital improvements may, at the end of any fiscal year, with the approval of the Board of Finance, be continued and set up as a reserve for the same purposes and may be committed by the Board of Finance for the same capital improvements for one fiscal year after the expiration of the fiscal year for which such appropriations were originally made.
Neither the Town Council nor any officer, board, commission or committee shall expend any money or enter into any contract for any purpose by which the Town shall become liable for any sum which, with any contract then in force, shall exceed the sum appropriated by the Town for such purpose, except in cases of necessity connected with the repair of public buildings, sewers, sewage disposal plants, highways and bridges and with public welfare, and then not to exceed the amount provided by § 7-348 of the General Statutes. Should any emergency arise whereby more money is needed for any department or service of the Town government than has been appropriated, the Selectmen shall notify the Board of Finance of such fact and the Chairman of said Board of Finance shall thereupon call a special meeting thereof to consider an additional appropriation. The Board of Finance may make the necessary appropriation therefor if it shall not exceed the amount provided in § 7-348 of the General Statutes, but not more than one such appropriation shall be made during any one fiscal year. In case no funds shall be available to meet such additional appropriations, the Town may, with the consent of the Board of Finance, given by resolution, borrow the amount necessary, and the sum so borrowed shall be included by the Board of Finance in the next regular tax levy upon the Town. If any sum greater than the amount provided in § 7-348 shall be necessary, the Board of Finance shall proceed under and in accordance with the provisions of § C5-12 relating to special appropriations. Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a limitation upon the Town in issuing bonds as herein provided or expending the proceeds therefrom in accordance with the vote of the Town Council. Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a limitation upon the Board of Finance in the disbursement of the whole or any part of the Town contingent fund. In the event of budget category shortfalls in any department other than the Board of Education, the Chief Financial Officer, with the approval of the Board of Finance, may make line item transfers, provided the total budget shall not be increased thereby.
Should the Town Council or any officer or officers or any board, commission or committee expend or cause to be expended any money of the Town or enter into any contract in violation of § C5-29, he, she, they or the members, jointly and severally, of such board, commission or committee or of the Town Council shall be liable in a civil action in the name of the Town and the amount so drawn from the treasury or for which the Town is made liable under such contract shall be liquidated damages in such action against such officer or officers or members of such board, commission or committee or the Town Council, but this section shall not be construed as preventing the Town from pursuing any other remedy which might be provided by law.