The fiscal year of the City shall begin on the first day of October and end on the last day of September of each year.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
The City Manager shall prepare and submit the annual budget and capital programs to the City Council and implement the final budget each year in accordance with state law. The City Manager shall submit to the City Council and make available and accessible to the public a complete report on the finances of the City as of the end of each fiscal year and provide information needed by City Council for its annual evaluation of performance. The City Manager shall keep the City Council fully advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the City.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
The City Manager's complete report on the finances of the City shall explain the budget both in fiscal terms and in terms of the work programs, linking those programs to the City's Comprehensive Plan and community priorities. It shall outline the proposed financial policies of the City for the ensuing fiscal year and the impact of those policies on future years. It shall describe the important features of the budget, indicate any major changes from the current year in financial policies, expenditures, and revenues together with the reasons for such changes, summarize the City's debt position, including factors affecting the ability to raise resources through debt issues, and include such other material as the City Manager deems desirable.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
The budget shall provide a complete financial statement of all City funds and activities for the ensuing fiscal year and, except as required by law or this Charter, shall be in such form as the City Manager deems desirable or the City Council may require by ordinance for effective management and an understanding of the relationship between the budget and the City's strategic goals. The budget shall begin with a clear general summary of its contents; shall show as definitively as possible each of the projects for which expenditures are set up in the budget and the estimated amount of money carried in the budget for each fund; shall show in detail all funds received from all sources during the preceding year and the estimated income required to cover the budget, indicating the proposed property tax rate, and all proposed expenditures, including debt service, for the ensuing fiscal year; shall show the outstanding obligations of the municipality; shall show the cash on hand to the credit of each fund and the funds available from all sources during the ensuing year; and shall be so arranged as to show comparative figures for actual and estimated income and expenditures of the current fiscal year and actual income and expenditures of the preceding fiscal year. It shall indicate in separate sections:
(1) 
The proposed goals and expenditures for current operations during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed for each fund by department or by other organization unit, and program, purpose or activity, method of financing such expenditures, and methods to measure outcomes and performance related to the goals;
(2) 
Proposed longer-term goals and capital expenditures during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed for each fund by department or by other organization unit when practical, the proposed method of financing each such capital expenditure, and methods to measure outcomes and performance related to the goals; and
(3) 
The proposed goals, anticipated income and expense, profit, and loss for the ensuing year for each utility or other enterprise fund or internal service fund operated by the City, and methods to measure outcomes and performance related to the goals. For any fund, the total of proposed expenditures shall not exceed the total of estimated income plus carried forward fund balance exclusive of reserves.
(4) 
Budget Reserves, maintained according to adopted financial policy, applicable state and federal laws, and best practices, including guidance from Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
(a) 
Notice and hearing.
The City Manager shall file a proposed budget with the City Secretary in accordance with state law. The City Council shall hold a public hearing on the proposed budget, and shall, before such public hearing publish a notice stating:
(1) 
The times and places where copies of the message and budget are available for inspection by the public,
(2) 
The time and place of such public hearing on the budget, and
(3) 
All other information required to be included under state law and this Charter.
(b) 
Amendment before adoption.
After the public hearing, the City Council may adopt the budget with or without amendment. In amending the budget, it may add or increase programs or amounts and may delete or decrease any programs or amounts, except expenditures required by law or for debt service or for an estimated cash deficit, provided that no amendment to the budget shall increase the authorized expenditures to an amount greater than total estimated income.
(c) 
Adoption.
The City Council shall adopt the budget on or before the deadline provided by state law. If it fails to adopt the budget by this date, the budget proposed by the City Manager shall go into effect. If the City Manager fails to propose a budget by this date, the current budget shall remain in effect until a new budget is adopted.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
(a) 
Submission to city council.
The City Manager shall prepare and submit to the City Council a multi-year capital improvement plan no later than three (3) months before the final date for filing of the proposed budget with the City Secretary.
(b) 
Contents.
The capital improvement plan shall include:
(1) 
A clear general summary of its contents;
(2) 
Identification of the goals as defined in the City's Comprehensive Plan;
(3) 
A list of all capital improvements and other capital expenditures which are proposed to be undertaken during the fiscal years next ensuing, with appropriate supporting information as to the necessity for each;
(4) 
Cost estimates and recommended time schedules for each improvement or other capital expenditure;
(5) 
Method of financing upon which each capital expenditure is to be reliant;
(6) 
The estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining the facilities to be constructed or acquired;
(7) 
A commentary on how the plan addresses the sustainability of the community and the region of which it is a part; and
(8) 
Methods to measure outcomes and performance of the capital plan related to the long-term goals of the community.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
The City Council shall provide for an independent annual audit of all City accounts and may provide for more frequent audits as it deems necessary. An independent certified public accountant or firm of such accountants shall conduct such audits. Such audits should be performed in accordance with Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) and Generally Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards (GAGAS). Every five (5) years, the City will conduct an independent forensic audit, in scope as determined by the City Manager and Auditor, and in accordance with the City budget.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
Copies of the final drafts of the budget, Capital Improvement Plan, independent audits, and appropriation and revenue ordinances shall be public records.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
All sales of City property, purchases made, and contracts executed by the City shall be made in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas. The City Council will adopt a Financial Policy, including a Purchasing and Contracting Policy, based on Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) policy and current best practices.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
The City shall have the right and power to borrow money on the credit of the City for permanent public improvements or for other public purposes as determined by the City Council, and the power to issue bonds, certificates of obligation, warrants, or other evidence of indebtedness of the City as authorized by the laws of the State of Texas. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Charter to the contrary, ordinances authorizing the issuance of bonds, certificates of obligation, warrants or other evidence of indebtedness, or ordinances authorizing the levy of taxes or the pledge of revenues to secure payment of indebtedness shall require only one reading, shall become effective immediately, and shall not be subject to referendum. The City Council may only authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds by a bond ordinance passed by the City Council and approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting in an election called for the purpose of authorizing the issuance of such bonds.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)
(a) 
The City shall have the power, within the limits of the laws of the State of Texas, to levy and collect annual taxes on all property, real, personal, or mixed, that is located within the City on January 1st of each year.
(b) 
The City Council, as soon as practicable after receipt of appraisal rolls but not later than October 1 of each year, shall enact the annual tax levy ordinance levying the tax rate per one hundred dollars ($100.00) of taxable value, as determined by the Williamson County Appraisal District, after meeting all requirements laws of the State of Texas. Failure of the Council to enact a tax levy ordinance for a particular year shall not invalidate the collection of taxes for that year.
(c) 
If a property owner to whom the City owes a debt is in arrears in payment of City taxes, the City Manager may reduce the debt by an amount equal to the unpaid taxes. This right of setoff and counterclaim for taxes and arrears shall apply to any debt, claim, demand, or account owned by the City. No assignment or transfer, after taxes are due to a debt or any other claim shall affect the right of the City to set off taxes against the debt or other claim.
(Ordinance 2024-O-045 adopted 11/18/2024)