The fiscal year of the Town government shall begin on the first
day of July and shall end on the last day of June. Such year shall
constitute the budget year of the Town government.
No officer or employee shall, during any budget year, expend
or contract to expend any money or incur any liability or enter into
any contract which, by its terms, involves the expenditure of money
for any purpose in excess of the amounts appropriated for or transferred
to that general classification of expenditure pursuant to this Charter.
Any contract, verbal or written, made in violation of this Charter
shall be null and void. Nothing in this section, however, shall prevent
the making of contracts or the spending of money for capital improvements
to be financed, in whole or in part, by the issuance of bonds nor
the making of contracts of lease or for services for a period exceeding
the budget year in which such contract is made, when such contract
is permitted by law.
All appropriations shall lapse at the end of the budget year
to the extent that they shall not have been expended or lawfully encumbered.
All unexpended and unencumbered funds shall be considered a surplus
at the end of the budget year and shall be included among the anticipated
revenues for the next succeeding budget year.
All checks issued in payment of salaries or other municipal
obligations shall be issued and signed by the Finance Officer and
shall be countersigned by the Mayor.
All real property and all tangible personal property within
the corporate limits of the Town or personal property which may have
a situs there by reason of the residence of the owner therein shall
be subject to taxation for municipal purposes, and the assessment
used shall be the same as that for state and county taxes. No authority
is given by this section to impose taxes on any property which is
exempt from taxation by any act of the General Assembly.
Except to the extent that other dates may be specified by state law, the taxes provided for in § C5-7 of this Charter shall be due and payable on the first day of July in the year for which they are levied and shall be overdue and in arrears on the first day of the following October. They shall bear interest while in arrears at the rate of 2/3 of 1% or such higher rate as may be allowed by law, for each month or fraction of a month until paid. All taxes not paid and in arrears after the 31st day of the following January shall be collected as provided in §
C5-10.
A list of all property on which the Town taxes have not been
paid and which are in arrears, as provided by § C5-9 of
this Charter, shall be turned over by the Finance Officer to the official
of the county responsible for the sale of tax-delinquent property
as provided in state law. All property listed thereon shall, if necessary,
be sold for taxes by this county official in the manner prescribed
by state law.
All fees received by an officer or employee of the Town government
in his official capacity shall belong to the Town government and be
accounted for to the Town.
The financial books and accounts of the Town shall be audited
annually by a certified public accountant.
In addition to any other borrowing power which the Town may
presently have, from whatever source derived, and notwithstanding
any other provision or limitation of public general or public local
law:
A. The Town may borrow money and incur indebtedness from time to time
for any public purpose and evidence that borrowing or indebtedness
by the sale and issuance of its general obligation bonds, tax anticipation
notes or other evidences of indebtedness, hereinafter sometimes collectively
referred to as "bonds," in the manner hereinafter prescribed.
B. Bonds issued by the Town shall be sold and issued in accordance with
the terms and conditions of an ordinance or ordinances passed in conformity
with §§ 31 to 39, inclusive, of Article 23A of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1973 Replacement Volume), as amended from
time to time, title "Corporations — Municipal," subtitle "Home
Rule," subheading "Creation of Municipal Public Debt"; provided, however,
that the Town may sell bonds at private sale without advertisement
or publication of notice of sale or solicitation of competitive bids
if the ordinance or ordinances authorizing the sale and issuance of
the bonds shall so specify.
C. During the first six months of any fiscal year, the Town shall have
the power to borrow in anticipation of the collection of the property
tax levied for that year and to issue tax anticipation notes or other
evidences of indebtedness as evidence of such borrowing. Such tax
anticipation notes or other evidences of indebtedness shall be a first
lien upon the proceeds of such tax and shall mature and be paid not
later than six months after the beginning of the fiscal year in which
they are issued. No tax anticipation notes or evidences of indebtedness
shall be issued which will cause the total tax anticipation indebtedness
of the Town to exceed 50% of the property tax levy for the fiscal
year in which such notes or other evidences of indebtedness are issued.
D. The Town may pay the maturing principal of and interest on bonds,
to the extent practicable, from the revenues, if any, of the particular
project or improvement for which the bonds were issued, notwithstanding
any limitation contained in any other law.
E. In addition to any other sources of payment for the principal of
and interest on such bonds, the Town may also pay the maturing principal
of and interest on such bonds, in whole or in part, from the proceeds
of such capital contribution charges, connection charges (including
area connection charges related to the cost of base plant construction
as well as the actual cost of connection), ready-to-serve charges,
service charges, charges for upkeep and any other charges or impositions
as the Town may levy, impose and collect, from time to time, during
the life of said bonds, the power and authority so to do being hereby
granted notwithstanding any limitation contained in any other law.
F. In addition to any other sources of payment for the principal of
and interest on such bonds, the Town may also pay the maturing principal
of and interest on such bonds, in whole or in part, from the proceeds
of such front-foot benefit assessments as the Town may levy, impose
and collect, from time to time, during the life of said bonds, the
power and authority so to do being hereby specifically granted notwithstanding
any limitation contained in any other law.
G. Ordinances authorizing general obligation bonds or certificates of
indebtedness in excess of 50% of the valuation of Town property for
the fiscal year in which such evidence of indebtedness is issued shall
be subject to the provisions of § C2-14E of this Charter.
If the majority of the qualified voters of the Town shall vote against
such issuance, then another referendum shall not be held on the question
of issuing bonds for the same public purpose until the expiration
of one year from the date upon which the issuance of said bonds shall
have been so disapproved.
All bonds, notes or other evidences of indebtedness validly
issued by the Town previous to the effective date of this Charter
and all ordinances passed concerning them are hereby declared to be
valid, legal and binding and of full force and effect as if herein
fully set forth.
The Town is hereby authorized to provide for the issuance of
bonds payable as to principal and interest solely from the revenues
of one or more revenue-producing projects in the Town, which bonds
shall not constitute an indebtedness of the Town to which its faith
and credit or taxing power are pledged.