No payment shall be made or obligation incurred against any
allotment or appropriation except in accordance with appropriations
duly made and unless the City Manager or his designee first certifies
that there is a sufficient unencumbered balance in such allotment
or appropriations and that sufficient funds therefrom are or will
be available to cover the claim or meet the obligation when it becomes
due and payable. Any authorization or payment or incurring of obligation
in violation of the provisions of this Charter shall be cause for
removal of any officer who knowingly authorized or made such payment
or incurred such obligations, and he shall also be liable to the City
for any amount so paid. However, this prohibition shall not be construed
to prevent the making or authorizing of payments or making of contracts
for capital improvements to be financed wholly or partly by the issuance
of bonds, time warrants, certificates of indebtedness, or certificates
of obligation, or to prevent the making of any contract or lease providing
for payments beyond the end of the fiscal year, provided that such
action is made or approved by ordinance.
The City Manager shall submit to the Council at its first regular
City Council meeting each month the financial condition of the City
budget items, budget estimates versus accruals for the preceding month
and for the fiscal year to date. Such records are to be made public
by the Council during open meeting. The financial records of the City
will be maintained in accordance with accepted principles recommended
by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and by the
National Committee on Governmental Accounting.
At the close of each fiscal year, and at such times as it may
be deemed necessary, the Council shall cause an independent audit
to be made of all accounts of the City by a Certified Public Accountant.
The Certified Public Accountant shall have no personal interest, directly
or indirectly, in the financial affairs of the City or any of its
officers. Upon completion of the audit, the results thereof in a summary
form shall be published immediately in the official newspaper of the
City and copies of the audit placed on file in the City Secretary’s
office as a public record.