The fiscal year of the City shall begin on the first day of October and end on the last day of September on the next succeeding year. Such fiscal year shall also constitute the budget and accounting year.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
On or before August 15th of the fiscal year, the City Manager shall submit to the City Council a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. The proposed budget submitted to Council for review shall comply with all requirements stipulated by law.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
In accordance with State Law, the budget shall be filed with the person performing the duties of City Secretary and shall be open to public inspection by anyone interested.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
After conducting public hearings in accordance with State Law, the City Council shall analyze the budget, making any additions or deletions which they feel appropriate, and shall, prior to the beginning of the next fiscal year, adopt the budget by the affirmative vote of a majority of the City Council.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
On final adoption, the budget shall be in effect for the budget year. Final adoption of the budget by the City Council shall constitute the official appropriations as proposed by expenditures for the current year and shall constitute the basis of official levy of the property tax as the amount of tax to be assessed and collected for the corresponding tax year. Unused appropriations may be transferred to any item required for the same general purpose.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
The City Council may, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the City Council, amend or change the budget to provide for any additional expense related to municipal purposes, or for any expense in which the general welfare of the citizenry is involved. These amendments shall be by ordinance and shall become an attachment to the original budget.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
A copy of the budget, as finally adopted, shall be filed with the person performing the duties of City Secretary and such other places required by State Law or as the City Council shall designate.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
Every appropriation, except an appropriation for a capital expenditure, shall lapse at the close of the fiscal year to the extent that it has not been expended or encumbered. An appropriation for a capital expenditure shall continue in force until the purpose for which it was made has been accomplished or abandoned. The purpose of any such appropriation, with the exception of a bond fund, shall be deemed abandoned if three (3) years pass without any disbursement from or encumbrance of the appropriation. Any funds not expended, disbursed, or encumbered shall be deemed excess funds.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
The City shall have the power to borrow money on the credit of the City and to issue general obligation bonds and certificates of obligation for permanent public improvements or for any other public purpose not prohibited by the Constitution and Laws of the State of Texas, and to issue refunding bonds to refund outstanding bonds of the City previously issued. All such bonds shall be issued in conformity with the Laws of the State of Texas.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
The City shall have power to borrow money for the purpose of constructing, purchasing, improving, extending, or repairing of public utilities, recreational facilities, or any other self-liquidating municipal function not prohibited by the constitution and laws of the State of Texas, and to issue revenue bonds to evidence the obligation created thereby. Such bonds shall be a charge upon and payable solely from the properties, or interest therein pledged, or the income therefrom, or both, and shall never be a debt of the City. All such bonds shall be issued in conformity with the laws of the State of Texas.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
The City Council may, by ordinance, give the City Manager general authority to contract for expenditure without further approval of the City Council for all budgeted items not exceeding limits set by the City Council within the ordinance.
a. 
All contracts for expenditures involving more than the limits must be expressly approved in advance by the City Council. All contracts or purchases involving more than the limits set by the City Council shall be awarded by the City Council in accordance with State Law.
b. 
Emergency contracts, as authorized by law and this Charter, may be negotiated by the City Council or City Manager, if given authority by the City Council, without competitive bidding and in accordance with State Law. Such emergency shall be declared by the City Manager and approved by the City Council.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
No payment shall be made or obligation incurred against any allotment or appropriation except in accordance with appropriations duly made, unless the City Manager first certifies that there is a sufficient unencumbered balance in such allotment or appropriation and that sufficient funds therefrom are or will be available to cover the claim or meet the obligation when it becomes due and payable. Additionally:
a. 
Any authorization of payment or incurring of obligation in violation of the provisions of this Charter shall be void and any payment so made illegal. Such action shall be cause for removal of any officer who knowingly authorized or made such payment or incurred such payment or obligation, and the officer shall also be liable to the City for any amount so paid.
b. 
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; providing that such action is made or approved by ordinance.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
All monies received by any person, department, or agency of the City for or in connection with the affairs of the City shall be deposited promptly in the City depository or depositories. The City depositories shall be designated by the City Council in accordance with such regulations and subject to the requirements as to security for deposits and interest thereon as may be established by ordinance and State Law. Procedures for withdrawal of money or the disbursement of funds from the City depositories shall be prescribed by ordinance.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
At the close of each fiscal year in accordance with State law, and at such other times as may be deemed necessary, the City Council shall call for an independent audit to be made of all accounts of the City by a certified public accountant. The certified public accountant selected shall have no personal interest, directly or indirectly, in the financial affairs of the City or any of its officers. The report of audit, with the auditor’s recommendations, will be made to the City Council. Upon completion of the audit, the summary shall be published immediately in the official newspaper of the City and copies of the audit placed on file in the office of the person performing the duties of City Secretary, as a public record.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
All taxes due in the City shall be payable at the office of the City Tax Collector, or at such location or locations as may be designated by the City Council, and may be paid at any time after the tax rolls for the year have been completed and approved. The City Council may provide for tax collection services to be accomplished by contract[.]
a. 
Taxes for each year shall be paid before February 1 of the next succeeding year, and all such taxes not paid prior to that date shall be deemed delinquent and shall be subject to penalty and interest as the City Council shall provide by ordinance. The City Council may provide discounts for the payment of taxes prior to January 1st in an amount not to exceed those established by the laws of the State of Texas.
b. 
Failure to levy and assess taxes through omission in preparing the appraisal rolls shall not relieve the person, firm, or corporation so omitted from obligation to pay such current or past due taxes as shown to be payable by recheck of the rolls and receipts for the years in question, omitting penalty and interest.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)
a. 
All taxable property located in the City on January 1st of each year shall stand charged from that date with a special lien in favor of the City for the taxes due. All persons purchasing any such property on or after January 1st in any year shall take the property subject to the liens provided above. In addition to the liens herein provided, on January 1st of any year, the owner of property subject to taxation by the City shall be personally liable for the taxes due for that year.
b. 
The City shall have the power to sue for and recover personal judgment for taxes without foreclosure, or to foreclose its lien or liens, or to recover both personal judgment and foreclosure. In any such suit where it appears that the description of any property in the City appraisal rolls is insufficient to identify such property, the City shall have the right to plead a good description of the property to be assessed, to prove the same, and to have its judgment foreclosing the tax lien or for personal judgment against the owners for such taxes.
(Ordinance 384, ex. A, adopted 5/12/15)