The fiscal year of the Town shall begin on the first day of
July and shall end on the last day of June each year. Such fiscal
year shall also constitute the budget year and accounting year. As
used in this Charter, the term "budget year" shall mean the fiscal
year for which any particular budget is adopted and in which it is
administered.
The Council shall appoint a Board of Finance comprised of five
taxpayers who are residents of the Town. In every month of September,
one member shall be appointed each year for a five-year term. At the
time of their appointment and during their term of office, members
of the Board of Finance shall not be an employee of the Town, shall
not be a member of any Town or State Central Committee of a political
party, and shall not hold any elective or appointive office of the
Town or with the State or Region, unless the Board of Finance is not
affected by the Sate or Regional Committee on which the appointee
serves.
On the third Monday in March of each year, the Town Manager
shall submit to the Finance Board, with copies to the Town Council,
the proposed budget of the Town of Westerly. For this purpose, the
Town Manager shall obtain from the head of each town office, department,
or agency an estimate of its proposed expenditures and anticipated
revenues with such supporting data as he may deem necessary. In preparing
the proposed budget, the Town Manager shall review the estimates submitted
and may revise them as he may deem advisable, except that he may not
make any revisions in the budget submitted by the School Committee
but shall present that portion to the Board of Finance and to the
Council as received from the School Committee.
A copy of the budget, as finally adopted by the Council, or
as amended by referendum, shall be certified by the Town Clerk and
filed in the office of the Town Treasurer. Sufficient copies shall
be made available by the Town Clerk for the use of all offices, departments
and agencies, and for the use of interested persons.
Every appropriation, except an appropriation for a capital expenditure
or the appropriation for support of public schools, shall lapse at
the close of the fiscal year to the extent that is 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 shall be deemed
abandoned if three years pass without any disbursement from or encumbrance
of the appropriation.
The Town Manager shall submit to the Board of Finance, with
a copy to the Council, not later than the first Monday in April of
each year a proposed water and sewer budget, or any other enterprise
fund budget showing in detail all anticipated revenue and all proposed
expenditures with appropriate explanations. After review of the recommended
water, sewer and any other enterprise budget by the Board of Finance,
a joint meeting shall be held with the Council. The Board of Finance
is empowered to confer with the Town Manager, all department heads,
and any others deemed necessary for the understanding and fair consideration
of the requested appropriations and sundry resolutions. The Board
of Finance shall have the power to revise any of the proposed water,
sewer and any other enterprise budget items. The Board of Finance
shall transmit its recommendations to the Council not later than the
first Monday of May.
A copy of the budget, as finally adopted by the Council shall
be certified by the Town Clerk and filed in the office of the Town
Treasurer. Sufficient copies shall be made available by the Town Clerk
for the use of all offices, departments and agencies, and for the
use of interested persons.