Pursuant to the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, Act of 1996, P.L. 1158, 53 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3015 to 3018, the City budget shall consist of the following:
A. 
General fund operating budget.
B. 
Capital budget.
(1) 
On or before September 1 of each year, the Mayor shall submit a proposed six-year Capital Improvement Program for the next six calendar years to the City Planning Commission for its study and recommendations. On or before November 1 of each year, after receipt of the report of the Planning Commission, the Mayor shall submit the Program to City Council for approval, incorporating any of the recommendations of the Planning Commission which he deems advisable. The Program submitted may be modified by the affirmative vote of four members of Council. Passage of the six-year Capital Improvement Program may be by the affirmative vote of three members of Council, and shall be subject to annual revision by Council.
[Amended 5-30-1996 by Ord. No. 96-8]
(2) 
The Director of Administration shall supervise the administration of each annual budget. Immediately after the budget has been enacted and after consultation with the heads of the departments, the Director shall establish a system of appropriations to each department. At the beginning of each allotment period, the amount specified shall become available to each department for obligations during that period. The Director of Administration shall file a copy of each allotment and modification thereof. An encumbrance system of accounts to control all expenditures within the limits of budget appropriations and to control such allotments shall be maintained. If, at any time during the budget year, the Director of Administration shall ascertain the probability of a cash deficit, he or she shall reconsider the work programs and allotments of the several offices, departments and agencies. Upon such reconsideration and with the approval of the Mayor, the Director of Administration shall revise the allotments of the departments so as to forestall, so far as possible, the making of commitments and expenditures in excess of the revenue to be realized during the fiscal year. All expenditures out of the capital budget shall be made in accordance with the provisions of § 11-25 herein, as amended.
[Amended 5-30-1996 by Ord. No. 96-8]
(3) 
The Mayor of the City of Hazleton shall submit his proposed budget to the Council of the City of Hazleton no later than November 1 of each year.
C. 
The Administration will prepare a City budget which will include all employee salaries, benefits and all additional costs along with all expenditures known to incur for the City within the year as line items within the budget.
[Added 6-6-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-13]
No moneys shall be paid out of the City treasury except upon appropriation previously made by Council and upon warrant pursuant thereto, which warrant shall explicitly state the purpose for which the money is to be drawn. No work shall be hired to be done, no materials purchased, no contracts made and no order issued for allotments for the payment of any moneys in any amount which will cause the sum appropriated to specific purposes to be exceeded. Council may make supplemental appropriations for any lawful purpose from funds on hand or estimated to be received within the fiscal year and not appropriated to any other purpose. The Director of Administration shall have the power to authorize the transfer of any unexpended balance of any appropriation item, or any portion thereof, within a department; but if the amount transferred is more than 5% of the appropriation item, then the Director of Administration shall not make such transfer without obtaining the approval of at least three members of Council at a meeting of Council. Expenditures from the contingency fund shall be made only upon the express approval of Council.
[Amended 4-25-1996 by Ord. No. 96-5; 9-12-1996 by Ord. No. 96-28; 6-20-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-11]
A. 
Contract administration for the City, including but not limited to authority as to preparation of specification, letting of bids, awarding of contracts, and payment of bills, heretofore vested in Council under Article XIX of the Third Class City Code of Pennsylvania, shall be vested in the Mayor and the Department of Administration to be exercised in accordance with procedures proposed by the Mayor and approval of Council. Any and all change orders to contracts shall not be executed by the Mayor or the Department of Administration unless and until approved by Council. The reception of any and all sealed bid contracts shall be submitted to the Hazleton City Council Clerk, as indicated in the publicly advertised invitation for bids and as prescribed by law; and
B. 
All sealed bid contracts received on or before the advertised deadline by the Hazleton City Council Clerk shall be opened publicly, at the next Hazleton City Council meeting, in the presence of one or more witnesses at the time and place designated in the advertised invitation for bids.
[Amended 4-26-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-5]
The Director of Administration shall deposit all City funds collected by his office in such hands or other financial depositories as he is directed by the Mayor and himself acting as a body for the designating of City depositories. All such deposits shall be made in the name of the City.
The Mayor and the Director of Administration, acting as a body for the temporary investment of City funds, shall have power to provide for such investment in United States Treasury bills and for the disposal of such securities when the moneys may be needed or in savings accounts or share accounts of institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation to the extent that such accounts are so insured and as authorized by the Third Class City Code.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 35101 et seq.
Pursuant to the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, Act of 1996, P.L. 1158, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 3152, the Council shall provide for annual post audits of all accounts by an independent auditor who shall be a certified public accountant, registered in Pennsylvania, or a firm of certified accountants so registered.
[Amended 4-26-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-5]
The Director of Administration shall submit a monthly financial statement by the 20th of each month to the Council of the City of Hazleton, if requested.
[Added 9-12-1996 by Ord. No. 96-15]
Pursuant to the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, Act of 1996, P.L. 1158, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 3151, as amended, City Council hereby provides for the exercise of a control function in the management of finances of the municipality, by a Municipal Controller.
A. 
The office of Controller is to be filled by appointment.
B. 
The Controller shall be appointed for an indefinite term by a majority of the members of the City Council, as provided in the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, Act of 1996, P.L. 1158, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 3153, as amended.
C. 
The compensation to be paid the Controller and other terms of employment shall be established by City Council and will be part of the City's budget process.
D. 
Except for those duties specifically delegated to the Department of Administration by the provisions of the Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, Act of 1996, P.L. 1158, 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2901 et seq., the Controller shall examine, audit and settle all accounts whatsoever in which the City is concerned, either as debtor or creditor, and shall also, at least annually or as often as the Controller is directed to do so by Council, examine and audit the accounts of all bureaus, officers, and departments of the City which collect, receive and disburse public monies or who are charged with the management, control, or custody thereof, and in every case a report of such examination, audit and settlement shall be made to Council. The Controller may perform such other audit functions, from time to time, as Council may direct, as long as such functions are not a duplication of, or inconsistent with, any functions of the City departments, bureaus, officers, executives or personnel as provided for in Home Rule Charter and Optional Plans Law, Act of 1996, P.L. 1158 (53 Pa.C.S.A. § 2901 et seq.) or ordinance.
E. 
The Controller shall be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Certified Public Accounting firm.
[Amended 4-26-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-5]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 11-32, Consensus of Mayor and Council regarding financial decisions, added 12-27-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-32, was repealed 4-26-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-5.