City of Beverly, MA Finance and Fiscal Procedures

Public hearing - Not less than 7 days before the meeting at which the school committee is scheduled to vote on its final budget request, the school committee shall cause to be published in a local newspaper and posted on the Beverly Public Schools website and the city website a general summary of its proposed budget. The summary shall specifically indicate any major variations from the current budget and the reasons for such changes. It shall further indicate the times and places at which complete copies of its proposed budget are available for examination by the public, and the date, time and place when and where a public hearing will be held by the school committee on the proposed budget. Following the public hearing, the school committee shall take its final vote on its proposed budget.

Submission to Mayor - The budget as adopted by the school committee shall be submitted to the mayor not less than 21 days before the date the mayor is required to submit a proposed city budget to the city council to allow the mayor sufficient time within which to consider the effect the school department's requested appropriation will have upon the total city operating budget the mayor is required to submit under this article.

SECTION 6-3 Submission of budget and budget message.

Within the time fixed by law, before the start of the fiscal year of the city, the mayor shall submit to the city council a proposed operating budget for the ensuing fiscal year with an accompanying budget message and supporting documents. The mayor shall simultaneously provide for the publication in a local newspaper of a notice and a general summary of the proposed budget, posting such notice and summary on the city website, as well as the complete proposed budget. The summary shall specifically indicate any major variations from the current operating budget and the reason for such changes. The notice shall further indicate the times and places at which complete copies of the proposed operating budget for the city are available for examination by the public.

SECTION 6-4 Budget message.

The budget message of the mayor shall explain the budget for all city agencies both in fiscal terms and in terms of work programs. It shall outline proposed financial policies of the city for the ensuing fiscal year, describe important features of the budget, indicate any major variations from the current fiscal year in financial policies, expenditures and revenues together with the reasons for such changes, summarize the city's debt position and include other material as the mayor deems desirable.

SECTION 6-5 Budget.

The proposed operating budget shall provide a complete financial plan for all city funds and city activities for the ensuing fiscal year. Except as may otherwise be required by general law, or this charter, it shall be in the form which the mayor deems desirable. In the presentation of the budget, the mayor shall utilize modern concepts of fiscal presentation so as to furnish an optimum level of information and the best financial control. The budget shall show in detail all estimated income from the proposed property tax levy and from all other sources and all proposed expenditures, including debt service, for the following year. The budget shall be arranged to show the actual and estimated income and expenditures for the previous, current and ensuing fiscal years and shall indicate in separate sections:

Proposed expenditures for current operations during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed by city agency in terms of work programs, staffing, and the method of financing such expenditures;

Proposed capital expenditures during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed by city agency, and the proposed method of financing each such capital expenditure;

The relationship of each proposed capital expenditure to the capital improvement program required to be submitted under section 6-8; and

(d)

Estimated surplus revenue and budgetary fund balances at the end of the current fiscal year, including estimated balances in any special accounts established for specific purposes.

SECTION 6-6 Action on budget.

Public Hearing - Upon its receipt of the proposed operating budget, the city council shall post on the city website and provide for the publication in a local newspaper of a notice stating the time and place, not less than 7 days nor more than 14 days following such publication, at which it will hold a public hearing on the proposed operating budget as submitted.

Review - The city council shall consider, in open public meetings, the detailed expenditures proposed for each city agency and may confer with representatives of each such agency in connection with its review and consideration. The city council may require the mayor, or any other city agency to furnish the city council with such additional information as it may deem necessary to assist it in its review and consideration of the proposed operating budget.

Action by City Council - The city council shall adopt the budget, with or without amendments, within the time frame as is provided by general law. In amending the budget, the city council may delete or decrease any programs or amounts except expenditures required by law, or for debt service. If the city council fails to take any action with respect to any item in the proposed budget within the period as provided by general law, such amount shall, without any action by the city council, become a part of the appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year and shall be available for the purposes specified. The final budget shall be posted on the city's website.

SECTION 6-7 Supplementary budgets; other appropriations.

Intradepartmental transfers - With the approval of the mayor, funds appropriated for 1 line item within the appropriation made for a particular municipal agency may be transferred to another line item within the same municipal agency. Whenever such a transfer is authorized by the mayor, notice of the transfer, and the circumstances under which such transfer was deemed advisable, shall be filed with the clerk of the city council.

Interdepartmental transfers - With the approval of the city council, funds appropriated for the use of 1 municipal agency may be transferred to the use of another municipal agency. Requests to the city council for the transfer of funds from 1 municipal agency to another shall be made by the mayor, in writing, and shall include a statement setting forth the reason the additional funds are needed by the agency to which it is proposed they be transferred and shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by the agency from which the appropriation is proposed to be taken that such transfer will not prevent that agency from performing its vital functions. A copy of this request shall, forthwith, be posted on the city bulletin board and on the city website. The city council shall, by its rules, provide a procedure governing interdepartmental transfer requests which shall include not less than 2 readings and a public hearing by the city council and specify the circumstances under which notice by publication in a newspaper shall be required and circumstances under which simple posting on the city bulletin board and city website shall be sufficient.

Supplementary appropriations - Whenever the mayor shall submit to the city council a request for a new appropriation of any sum of money, either as a supplement to some item in the annual operating budget or for an item, or items, not included in the annual operating budget as adopted, the city council shall not act upon such request until it has (1) given notice by posting on the city's website and publication in a local newspaper of the request, and (2) held a public hearing concerning such request. The publication of the notice and the public hearing shall be generally in conformity with the section 6-6(a) concerning the proposed annual operating budget.

SECTION 6-8 Capital improvement program.

The mayor shall submit a capital improvement program to the city council not less than 150 days before the start of each fiscal year, which shall include the following:

A clear and concise general summary of its contents;

A list of all capital improvements proposed to be undertaken during the next ensuing 5 years with supporting information as to the need for each capital improvement;