The fiscal year of the Town government shall begin the first
day of July and end on the 30th day of June in the following year,
or such other fiscal year as the Council may decide. Such fiscal year
shall constitute the budget and accounting year as used in this Charter.
The budget shall have three divisions, the municipal budget,
the education budget and the proprietary budget. Each shall include
all proposed expenditures thereunder, except for state and federal
grants. For the ensuing fiscal year, Town Meeting shall make a single
appropriation for the municipal budget. Appropriations for the education
budget shall be made as required by state law. The capital improvement
program of both the municipality and school shall be included within
the municipal budget.
The operating budget shall be defined as the entire budget of
the Town, including the municipal budget and the education budget.
The operating budget does not include the capital improvement program
or any proprietary budgets. The operating budget shall contain the
following:
A. Introduction.
The Town Manager's budget message, along with a summary of the budget
prepared in such manner as to present to the taxpayers a simple and
clear synopsis of the detailed estimates of the budget. It need not
be itemized further than by principal sources of anticipated revenue,
stating separately the amount to be raised by property taxes, and
shall also contain itemized expenditures by department;
B. Revenues.
A statement of taxes required, an itemized statement of estimated
revenue from all other sources, and comparative figures from the current
and previous year;
C. Expenditures.
An itemized statement of appropriations recommended for the coming
year with comparative statements in parallel columns of estimated
expenditures for the current year and actual expenditures for the
previous fiscal year (an unusual increase or decrease in any item
shall be indicated and explained);
D. Other.
Such other information as may be required by the Town Council.
The proprietary budget shall include all proprietary and enterprise
funds of the Town, including the sewer budget, water budget and the
budgets for any other revenue producing municipal facility as defined
by M.R.S.A. Title 30-A, Chapter 213, the Revenue Producing Municipal
Facilities Act. The Town Council shall adopt proprietary budgets,
fees and charges by ordinance.
[Amended 11-3-2020]
The municipal and education divisions of the budget shall be
prepared and submitted according to the following procedure:
A. Departmental CIP and operating budget requests shall be prepared according to a timeline set by the Town Manager to allow for submission of the budget by the last Tuesday in January each year. Budget submissions shall be in accordance with the provisions set forth in §
C-29 and §
C-30.
B. School Committee budget request. Fourteen days before the Town Manager is required to submit the budget to the Town Council, the School Committee shall submit its operating budget and CIP funding requests to the Town Manager. Said requests shall include the information required in §
C-30C(2) through (4), as well as §
C-29B through D.
C. Submittal of budget to the Council and Warrant Committee. The Town
Manager shall compile the budget information submitted, prepare the
budget as provided in this section, and submit the operating budget
and CIP to a joint meeting of the Town Council and Warrant Committee
on or before the last Tuesday in January each year. The Town Warrant
Committee and Town Council shall then jointly meet with Town staff
for detailed presentation of the municipal budget by Town staff before
proceeding to independent review.
D. Warrant
Committee and Town Council Review. The Warrant Committee shall review
the municipal budget and submit its recommendations to the Council
at a joint meeting of those bodies on or before the fourth Tuesday
in February. The Council shall review the municipal and school budgets
and the recommendations of the Warrant Committee.
E. Tentative adoption of budget by Council. The proposed budget as presented
and reviewed shall be tentatively adopted by the Council with or without
amendments on or before the first Tuesday of March of each calendar
year and Council shall fix a time and a place for holding a public
hearing on the budget prior to the fourth Tuesday of March of each
calendar year.
F. Notice of hearing. The Town Clerk shall give public notice of such
hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town. Said notice
shall contain as a minimum the date, time and place of the meeting,
the locations where copies of the budget may be reviewed, the total
appropriations requested for both the municipal and education budgets
and an estimate of the effect on the tax rate. Full copies of the
detailed budget shall be made available for public review at the office
of the Town Clerk.
G. Adoption of budget by Council. The Town Council shall hear public
comment at the budget hearing, review the budget, adopt it with or
without change and recommend it to Town Meeting on or before the fourth
Tuesday in March.
H. The recommendations of the Warrant Committee pertaining to the municipal budget shall be provided to the Town Meeting as set forth in §
C-5C(1)(a) and (2)(b).
The Town Manager may transfer any unencumbered appropriation
balance or portion thereof from line item to line item within departments
but may not expend funds in excess of the department appropriation.
The Council may, by resolution, transfer any unencumbered appropriation
balance or portion thereof between departments.
The accounting terms used herein shall be interpreted as defined
in the latest edition of Governmental Accounting, Auditing and Financial
Reporting published by the Government Finance Officers Association.