[Adopted 12-16-1975 by Ord. No. 1046 as Sec. 2-10 of the Revised General Ordinances]
There is hereby established a Department of Finance, the head of which shall be the Finance Chairman, which shall have jurisdiction over all business pertaining to finance.
A. 
Borough Treasurer. Within the Department of Finance there shall be a Division of the Treasury, the head of which shall be the Borough Treasurer. The collector, when so designated by the Council, shall be the Treasurer of the Borough. He shall serve for a term of one year.
B. 
Powers and duties of the Treasurer. The Treasurer shall have, perform and exercise all of the functions, powers and duties as provided by general law and Borough ordinances. He shall keep and maintain books and records of all financial transactions of the Borough in accordance with the standards and requirements of the Division of Local Finance in the Department of Community Affairs of the State of New Jersey. He shall have custody of all public moneys of the Borough and shall make monthly reports to the Council of all receipts, expenditures, commitments and unexpended appropriations. All moneys received from any source by or on behalf of the Borough or any division, department, board, office or agency thereof, except as otherwise provided by Borough ordinance, shall be paid to the Treasurer who shall, by the next ensuing bank day after their receipt, deposit them in the authorized public depository of the Borough to the credit of the proper account.
C. 
Presentation of claim; approval.
[Amended 4-20-1976 by Ord. No. 1050]
(1) 
Any person claiming payment from the Borough of Bergenfield shall first submit a detailed statement of the item or demand necessitating such claim or demand to the responsible executive agency or department, specifying particularly how the bill or demand is made up and certifying to the correctness of the claim. No bill, claim or demand shall be considered for payment unless the voucher has attached to it (or includes) a certification of a department head, or other authorized municipal official, or his duly designated representative, having personal knowledge of the facts that the goods have been received by, or the services rendered to the Borough of Bergenfield, and that those services or goods are consistent with the existing contract or purchase order. The Municipal Administrator shall review all vouchers or demands for payment to determine that they are in accord with the purchase order or resolution authorizing the expenditure and shall audit, warrant and make recommendations on all claims and bills to the Mayor and Council. The Chief Financial Officer shall certify to the Mayor and Council that funds are available and have been properly encumbered in accord with state law and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder for the payment of any claims and bills.
(2) 
The bill or claim duly certified shall be presented to the Municipal Clerk for inclusion in the agenda of a regular meeting of the governing body. It shall be the duty of the Municipal Administrator to examine all bills or claims submitted for payment in order to ascertain if proper administrative procedures have been followed and said administrator's signature on a voucher, bill or other authorization for payment shall signify the correctness thereof and a recommendation for payment. All claims or bills to be considered by the governing body shall be listed systematically without preference and said list shall be made available to every member of said governing body.
(3) 
All claims shall be considered by the governing body which shall approve or reject the same. The governing body shall state the reason for rejecting any claim and such rejected claims shall be referred back to the Municipal Administrator with appropriate instructions.
(4) 
It shall be the duty of the Borough Clerk to record all claims in the official minutes or through an appropriate claims register, indicating that the governing body has by formal action approved the same, with appropriate notation or record of any claims disapproved or rejected. All records pertaining to approved and disapproved bills or claims shall be available for public inspection.
(5) 
After the governing body has approved the claim, the Municipal Administrator shall turn the same over to the Treasurer, or other chief financial officer, who shall, forthwith, prepare the necessary checks for the payment thereof, which said checks shall be signed by the Mayor, the Treasurer and the Borough Clerk, or their duly authorized representatives. After preparing checks for the payment of claims, he shall record them in proper books of account and thereafter mail the checks to the claimants.
D. 
Disbursements. Disbursements in payment of approved bills shall be made by the Treasurer in the following manner, except that payments from the payroll account shall be made pursuant to Subsection E, below. Every disbursement shall be in the form of a check payable to the order of the person entitled to receive it, and shall specify the account or appropriation to which it is chargeable. Each check shall bear the signatures of the Mayor or in the absence of the Mayor, the president of the Council and the Clerk and the Treasurer.
E. 
Payroll account. There shall be an account to be designated the Borough of Bergenfield Payroll Account and from time to time the Borough Treasurer, upon receipt of an amount due such payroll account, shall deposit the same to the credit of the payroll account, charging the appropriate budgetary accounts therewith. Disbursement from the payroll account may be made by payroll checks signed by the Borough Treasurer alone or, in the absence of the Treasurer, by the Borough Clerk upon pre-audit and warrant of the Chairman of the Department of Finance and approval by the Council of the entire payroll. In case of error or adjustment in the payroll the Treasurer shall, and it shall be his duty to, make proper correction and appropriate record of such correction.
F. 
Travel expenses. Itemized claims supported by receipts, where available, shall be presented in order to obtain reimbursement for expenses incurred by officers and employees authorized to travel by the Borough. The Borough Council may, by resolution, provide for and authorize payment of advances to officers and employees toward their expenses for authorized official travel and expenses incident thereto. Such resolution shall provide for the verification and adjustment of such expenses and advances and the repayment of any excess advance by means of a detailed bill of items or demand and the certifications or affidavit of the party claiming payment that it is correct, which shall be submitted within 10 days after the completion of the travel for which an advance was made.
G. 
Deputy Treasurer. There shall be a Deputy Treasurer who shall assist the Treasurer in the performance of his duties at the direction of the Treasurer.
Within the Department of Finance, there shall be a Division of Tax Assessments, the head of which shall be the Tax Assessor. The office of Tax Assessor shall be constituted as a full-time position. He shall:
A. 
Have, perform and discharge all the functions, powers and duties prescribed by law for a municipal assessor.
B. 
Maintain adequate assessment records of each separate parcel of real property assessed or exempted.
C. 
Maintain a current tax map of the Borough as a public record and cause to be recorded thereon all changes in ownership or character of the real property assessed, employing for that purpose the facilities of other departments as provided by the code.
D. 
Be subject to supervision and control by the County Board of Taxation and be governed by such rules, order or directions as may be issued by the County Board.
E. 
Submit monthly report to Mayor and Council.
A. 
Budget preparation.
(1) 
The budget shall be prepared by the Mayor and Council with the assistance of the Municipal Administrator. During the month of November, all department chairmen shall submit requests for appropriations for the ensuing budget year.
(2) 
The Municipal Administrator, in conjunction with the Borough auditor, shall prepare all estimates of nonproperty tax revenues anticipated for the support of each annual budget.
(3) 
The budget document shall be prepared in such form as is required by law for municipal budgets.
B. 
Budget operation.
(1) 
The Municipal Administrator shall coordinate the administration of each annual budget. In consultation with department heads he shall suggest quarterly or other periodic allotments of appropriations as he may deem necessary. When approved by Council, each department shall plan and administer its expenditure program within the limits of these allotments.
(2) 
If at any time during the budget year the Municipal Administrator shall ascertain that the Borough government is faced with the probability of incurring a cash deficit for the current year, he shall reconsider the work programs and allotments of the several departments. Upon such reconsideration and with the approval of the Council, he may revise budget allotments so as to forestall, so far as possible, the making of commitments and expenditures in excess of the revenues to be realized during the fiscal year. He shall file with the Chairman of Finance a copy of such revised allotments, and the Chairman of Finance shall control all expenditures within the limits thereof.
C. 
Purchase controls. All purchases of any supplies, materials or equipment or contractual services for the Borough's account shall be made by the Division of Purchasing pursuant to a written requisition from the head of the department whose appropriation will be charged and the certification of the Treasurer that a sufficient unencumbered balance of appropriation is available to pay therefor. All such purchase contracts shall conform with applicable requirements of state statutes for competitive bidding.
D. 
Award of contracts; execution. Where contracts are let to public competitive bidding, the Council may let the contract in the manner prescribed by law. The Mayor shall execute and sign contracts let and authorized pursuant to law and ordinances and his signature shall be attested by the Clerk.
E. 
Purchasing procedure.
(1) 
Each department shall submit to the administrator a complete statement of the materials, supplies and equipment and work and labor under contract which will be required by the department during the ensuing year, half-year or quarter-year, as the Council may determine, according to the best estimate of the department head. This statement shall be in such form and detail as the Council may require.
(2) 
Purchases shall be made upon requisition of a department head to the purchasing agent under such procedures and in such form as the Council may prescribe or approve. Except as the Mayor or Chairman of Finance may authorize in case of emergency, no purchase shall be made and no bill, claim or voucher shall be approved unless the procedures prescribed by or pursuant to this chapter have been followed.
F. 
Departmental purchasing limitation. Purchases may be made within departments in amounts not exceeding $750 without the prior consent of the department chairman.