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ARTICLE IX:
Financial Procedures
Section
901.  Fiscal
Year
The
fiscal year of the Township shall begin on
the first (1st) day of January and end on
the last day of December or at such other
time as Council may ordain.
Section
902. Submission
of Budget and Budget Message
The
Mayor shall submit to Council a budget for
the ensuing fiscal year and a budget
message. Submission of these items shall
take place at least sixty (60) days prior
to the start of this fiscal year or at
such earlier time as Council shall
establish in the Administrative
Code.
Section
903. Budget
Message
The
Mayor's message shall explain the budget
both in fiscal terms and in the terms of
work programs. It shall outline proposed
financial policies of the Township for the
ensuing fiscal year, 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 Township's
debt position and include such other
material as the Mayor deems desirable.
Section
904. Budget
The budget shall provide a complete
financial plan of all Township funds and
activities for the ensuing fiscal year
and, except as required by law or by this
Charter, shall be in such form as the
Mayor deems desirable or as the Council
may require. In organizing the budget, the
Mayor shall utilize the most feasible
combination of expenditure classification
by fund, organization unit, program,
purpose or activity, and object. It shall
begin with a clear general summary of its
contents, shall show in detail all
estimated income, indicating the proposed
real property tax levy, and all proposed
expenditures, including debt service, for
the ensuing fiscal year and actual income
and expenditures of the preceding year. It
shall indicate in separate
sections:
1.
Proposed
expenditures for current operations
during the ensuing fiscal year,
detailed by offices, departments, and
agencies in terms of their respective
work programs, and the method of
financing such expenditures;
2.
Proposed
capital expenditures during the ensuing
fiscal year detailed by offices,
departments, and agencies when
practicable and the proposed method of
financing each such capital
expenditures; and
3.
Anticipated
net surplus or deficit for the ensuing
fiscal year of each utility owned or
operated by the Township and the
proposed method of its disposition;
subsidiary budgets for each utility
giving detailed income and expenditure
information shall be attached as
appendices to the budget.
The total
of proposed expenditures shall not exceed
the total of estimated income.
Section
905.
Capital Program
A.
Submission to Council.
The Mayor shall prepare annually and
submit to the Council a five-year (5)
capital program at such time as Council
shall establish in the Administrative
Code, but at no time shall the capital
program be submitted later than thirty
(30) days prior to the time the budget is
submitted.
B.
Contents.
The capital program shall
include:
1.
A clear general summary of its
contents;
2.
A
list of all capital improvements which
are proposed to be undertaken during
the five (5) fiscal years next ensuing,
with appropriate supporting information
as to the necessity for such
improvements;
3.
Cost
estimates, method of financing, and
recommended time schedules for each
such improvement; and
4.
The
estimated annual cost of operating and
maintaining the facilities to be
constructed or acquired.
The above
information may be revised and extended
each year with regard to capital
improvements still pending or in process
of construction or acquisition.
Section
906. Council
Action on Budget
A.
Notice
and Hearing. The
Council shall publish in one or more
newspapers of general circulation in the
Township the general summary of the budget
and a notice stating:
1.
The
time and places where copies of the
message and budget are available for
inspection by the public; and
2.
The
time and place, not less than two (2)
weeks after such publication, for a
public hearing on the
budget.
B.
Amendment
before Adoption. After
the public hearing, the Council may adopt
the budget by resolution 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 estimated
cash deficit, provided that no amendment
to the budget shall increase the
authorized expenditures to an amount
greater than the total of estimated
income.
C.
Adoption,
Appropriation, Tax Levy. On
or before the last day or the fiscal year
currently ending, the Council
shall:
1.
Adopt
the budget by resolution;
2.
Pass
an appropriation ordinance;
and
3.
Pass
an ordinance levying taxes.
If Council
fails to take these actions by this date,
then the amounts appropriated for current
operation for the current fiscal year
shall be deemed adopted for the ensuing
fiscal year on a month-to-month basis,
with all items in it prorated accordingly,
until such time as the Council adopts a
budget for the ensuing fiscal year.
Appropriations shall be made in lump sum
to departments and agencies in the
following categories: personal services;
material, supplies, and equipment; debt
service. Council may adopt a program
budget, in which case appropriations will
be made to programs.
D.
Real
Property Tax Levy Limitation.
Real
Property Tax rate increases are limited to
a maximum of three (3) mills or five
percent (5%) of the prior year's budget
per annum unless approved through the
action of public referendum; however, in
addition to the foregoing, an annual tax
sufficient to pay interest and principal
on any indebtedness incurred pursuant to
the Local Government Unit Debt Act, or any
prior or subsequent act governing the
incurrence of indebtedness of the
Township, is permitted.
Section
907. Council
Action on Capital Program
A.
Notice
and Hearing. The
Council shall publish in one or more
newspapers of general circulation in the
Township the general summary of the
capital program and a notice
stating:
1.
The
times and places where copies of the
capital program are available for
inspection by the public; and
2.
The
time and place, not less than two (2)
weeks after such publication, for a
public hearing on the capital
program.
B.
Adoption.
The
Council by resolution shall adopt the
capital program, with or without
amendment, after the pubic hearing and
within such time as Council has
established.
Section
908. Public
Records
Copies
of the budget and the capital program as
adopted shall be public records and shall
be made available to the public at
suitable places in the
Township.
Section
909. Amendments
after Adoption
A. Supplemental
Appropriations. If
during the fiscal year the Chief
Administrative Officer certifies that
there are available for appropriation
revenues in excess of those estimated in
the budget, Council by ordinance may make
supplemental appropriations for the year
up to the amount of such
excess.
B.
Emergency
Appropriations. To
meet a public emergency affecting life,
health, property, or the public peace,
Council may make emergency appropriations.
Such appropriations may be made by
emergency
ordinance
in accordance with the provisions of this
Charter. To the extent that there are no
available unappropriated revenues to meet
such appropriations, Council may by such
emergency
ordinance
authorize the issuance of emergency notes,
which may be renewed from time to time,
but the emergency notes and renewals of
any fiscal year shall be paid not later
than the last day of the fiscal year next
succeeding that in which the emergency
appropriation was made.
[ Return
to Section 703 ]
C.
Reduction
of Appropriations. If
at any time during the fiscal year it
appears probable to the Chief
Administrative Officer that the revenue
available will be insufficient to meet the
amount appropriated, he shall report to
the Council, through the Mayor, without
delay, indicating the estimated amount of
the deficit, any remedial action taken by
him, and his recommendations as to any
other steps to be taken. The Council shall
then take such further action as it deems
necessary to prevent or minimize any
deficit; and for that purpose, it may by
ordinance reduce one or more
appropriations.
D.
Transfer
of Appropriations. At
any time during the fiscal year, the Mayor
may transfer part or all of any
unencumbered appropriation balance among
programs within a department, office, or
agency and, upon written request by the
Mayor, the Council may by ordinance
transfer part or all of any unencumbered
appropriation balance from one department,
office, or agency to another.
E.
Limitations;
Effective Date. No
appropriation for debt service may be
reduced or transferred, and no
appropriation may be reduced below any
amount required by law to be appropriated
or by more than the amount of the
unencumbered balance thereof. The
supplemental and emergency appropriations
and reduction or transfer of
appropriations authorized by this section
may be made effective immediately upon
adoption.
Section
910. Lapse
of Appropriations
Every
appropriation, except an appropriation for
a capital expenditure, shall lapse at the
close of the fiscal year to the extent
that it has not been expended or
encumbered. An appropriation for a capital
expenditure shall continue in force until
the purpose for which it was made has been
accomplished or abandoned; the purpose of
any such appropriation shall be deemed
abandoned if three (3) years pass without
any disbursement from or encumbrance of
the appropriation.
Section
911. Administration
of Budget
No
payment shall be made or obligation
incurred against any appropriation except
in accordance with appropriations duly
made and unless the Chief Administrative
Officer or his designee first certifies
that there is a sufficient unencumbered
balance in such appropriation and that
sufficient funds are or will be available
to cover the claim or meet the obligation
when it becomes due or payable. Any
authorization of payment or incurring of
obligation in violation of the provisions
of this Charter shall be void and any
payment so made illegal; such action shall
be cause for removal of any officer who
knowingly authorized or made such payment
or incurred such obligation, and he shall
also be liable to the Township for any
amount so paid. However, except where
prohibited by law, nothing in this Charter
shall be construed to prevent the making
or authorizing of payments or making of
contracts for capital improvements to be
financed wholly or partly by the issuance
of bonds to prevent the making of any
contract or lease providing for payments
beyond the end of the fiscal year,
provided that such action is made or
approved by ordinance.
[
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to the Charter Table of
Contents
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