The fiscal year of Ulster County shall begin
with the first day of January and end with the last day of December
of each year.
It shall be the duty of the County Executive
to prepare and file the County expense and capital budgets and capital
program for each fiscal year in accordance with the provisions of
this Charter and applicable state law. Pursuant to this duty, the
County Executive shall have the power, personally or through his or
her representatives, to require all necessary information from all
departments, agencies, offices or units of County government for the
purpose of ascertaining and/or assessing their budgetary requirements.
[Amended 6-16-2020 by L.L. No. 3-2020]
The head of each department, agency, office or unit of County
government shall submit to the County Executive, in writing, and through
such channels and processes as specified by him or her, an overall
estimate for that department, agency, office or unit and estimates
by program within that department, agency, office or unit of expected
expenses and expected revenues for the next ensuing fiscal year. A
copy of said estimates from each department, agency, office or unit
shall be simultaneously submitted to the Clerk of the Legislature.
These estimates shall be called "departmental estimates" and shall
be organized with proposed grand totals of expenses and revenues for
personnel services and other than personnel services for the department,
agency, office or unit and proposed subtotal appropriations for personnel
services and other than personnel services for each program within
each department, agency, office or unit. A statement of actual expenses
and actual revenues for the immediately preceding completed fiscal
year, budgeted expenditures and revenues for the current fiscal year,
and expenditures and revenues to date for the current fiscal year
shall be included in departmental submission, prepared in the same
specified format for comparison purposes. Each departmental estimate
of expenses and revenue by program shall be supported by such other
detail and other supporting information concerning the economy, efficiency
and effectiveness of departmental performance as the County Executive
shall require. Departmental estimates shall be public records and
shall at all reasonable times be open to public inspection.
The County Executive shall submit with the County
budget a budget message summarizing and explaining the main features
of the County budget, including information identifying and analyzing
new or changed programs, with such supporting schedules and explanatory
materials as he or she may deem desirable or the Legislature may by
resolution require. The County Executive's proposed budget shall include
a clear summary demonstration that there is a balanced relationship
between the total estimated expenditures and the total estimated revenues
for the next ensuing fiscal year and shall compare these figures with
the actual receipts and expenditures for the last completed fiscal
year and the year-to-date actual and year-to-date projected total
expenditures and revenues for the current fiscal year. The County
Executive's budget message shall also outline the existing and any
proposed financial policies of the County relating to the capital
program, including a description of each capital improvement proposed
to be undertaken in the preceding fiscal year and not yet completed.
The budget message shall specify the manner in which the County Executive
is overseeing management of departmental operations to assure economic,
efficient, effective delivery of public services, and contain such
additional information as the County Executive may deem appropriate,
and shall be posted on the County's website.
The Legislature or a committee designated by
it will review the County Executive's proposed County budget and budget
message and may require attendance of the heads of departments, agencies,
offices or units or their representatives and/or their production
of records and information in explanation of their departmental estimates
as the Legislature shall deem appropriate. The Legislature or a committee
designated by it shall prepare a written analysis and review of the
County Executive's proposed budget and make it publicly available,
including posting it on the County government website, no later than
the second Friday of November of each year.
Beginning no later than the third Friday of
November of each year, the Legislature shall hold, in at least three
geographically dispersed locations in the County, public hearings
on the County Executive's proposed County budget, the budget message
submitted by the County Executive, the report resulting from the review
and analysis of that budget and message by the Legislature or its
designated committee. The Clerk of the Legislature shall cause to
be posted on the County website published in the official newspaper
of the County and such other newspapers as may be designated by the
Legislature notices of the places, locations and times when these
hearings shall be held, their purposes, a concise summary of the proposed
County budget, budget information, together with copies of the proposed
budget, the budget message and the report submitted by the Legislature
or its committee may be inspected or obtained by any interested person.
At least 10 days shall elapse between the publication of a notice
and the date specified for any budget hearing. At a budget hearing
any person may be heard. Insofar as necessary and practicable within
the deadline for the timely final adoption of the County budget, a
budget hearing may be adjourned to a date certain or from day to day.