The fiscal year shall begin on the first day
of January and end on the last day of December unless the Council
shall otherwise ordain.
A.
On or before the 15th of October, the individual Department
Directors shall present to the Fiscal Director the proposed budgets
for their individual departments.
B.
On or before the 60th day prior to the end of the
fiscal year, the Fiscal Director shall prepare, and the Director of
Accounts and Finances shall review, and submit to the Council a proposed
budget and an accompanying message for the ensuring fiscal year at
the regular November meeting of the Council.
The Director of Accounts and Finances shall
prepare and deliver a budget message. The budget message shall explain
the budget, both in fiscal terms and in terms of the work program.
It shall outline the proposed financial policies of the city for the
ensuing fiscal year, describe the important features of the budget
and indicate any major changes from the current year in financial
policies, expenditures and revenues, together with the reasons for
the changes. The budget message shall also summarize the debt position
and the five-year capital program and include such other information
that the Director of Accounts and Finances deems desirable.
The budget shall:
A.
Provide a complete financial plan of all city funds
and activities for the ensuing fiscal year.
B.
Be organized so as to use the most feasible combination
of expenditure classifications by fund, organization unit, program,
purpose of activity and objective.
C.
Begin with a general summary of its contents.
D.
Show, in detail, all estimated income, including the
existing and proposed tax levies, as well as other assessments, fees
and charges.
E.
Show all proposed expenditures, including debt service.
F.
Show the number of proposed employees and annual salary
schedule in every job classification.
G.
Be so arranged as to show comparative figures for
actual income and expenditures for the current fiscal year and actual
income and expenditures of the previous year.
H.
Indicate 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.
I.
The total proposed expenditures budgeted shall not
exceed the total of estimated revenue.
The Council shall publish, within twenty (20)
days of receipt, the general summary of the budget, any proposed amendments
to the budget and a notice stating:
A.
After the public hearing, the Council may adopt the
budget with or without amendment. In amending the budget, the Council
may add or increase programs or amounts and may delete or decrease
any programs or amounts, except expenditures required by applicable
law or for debt service or for estimated cash deficit; but no amendment
of the budget shall increase the authorized expenditures to an amount
greater than the total of the estimated income.
B.
The Council shall adopt the budget by ordinance on
or before the last day of the month of the fiscal year currently ending.
If it fails to adopt the budget by this date, the amounts appropriated
for current operation of the current fiscal year shall be deemed adopted
for the 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.
The Council may amend the budget by ordinance
during the fiscal year for which the budget was adopted; provided,
however, that such amendment follows a public hearing and that such
amendment shall not result in expenditures exceeding the estimated
income determined as of the time of the amendment. The Council at
all times may transfer part or all of any unencumbered appropriation
balance among programs within a department or departments without
a public hearing.
At the time of adopting the annual budget, the
Council shall simultaneously levy sufficient taxes from authorized
sources which, with other revenues and available receipts and balance,
will provide for a balanced budget.
Adoption of the budget and amendments thereof
shall constitute appropriations for the expenditures set forth therein.
[Amended 1-8-2007 by Ord. No. 1935[1]]
No payment of any funds of the city shall be
made unless provided for in the budget as may be amended from time
to time and specifically approved by the Council; provided, however,
that payroll and utility expenditures may be made at the direction
of the Fiscal Director where based upon a prior ordinance or contract.
All checks and drafts of the city shall be signed by the Director
of Accounts and Finances and shall be countersigned by the Director
of Administration and Development. Disbursements of payroll checks
or drafts containing imprinted signatures of the proper municipal
officials or bank officials shall be permitted in connection with
use of data-processing equipment when contracted for with banking
institutions, and machine-imprinted signatures of the proper city
officials may be used for disbursements of city checks or drafts,
provided that such imprinting machines are designed for operation
only by authorized personnel.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance, which was approved
at referendum 5-15-2007 and is effective 1-8-2008, abolished the elected
position of City Treasurer and removed references to the elected office
from the Home Rule Charter.
A.
The Fiscal Director shall prepare, and the Director
of Accounts and Finances shall review, and submit to the Council a
five-year capital program at least three (3) months prior to the final
date for submission of the budget. 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 schedule for each such improvement.
(4)
The estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining
the facilities to be constructed or acquired.
(5)
A comparison between projected and actual capital
programs for the previous twelve (12) months.
B.
The above information may be revised and extended
each year with regard to capital improvement still pending or in process
of construction or acquisition.
Funds for specific capital expenditures may
be established, managed, transferred and distributed pursuant to the
Third Class City Code, § 2403, Subdivision 1.1, or as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 37403,
Subdivision 1.1.
The proposed and adopted budget and proposed
and adopted capital program shall be public record.
A.
Before entering upon the duties of their respective
offices or positions, the Fiscal Director, as well as any other official
agent or employee of the city as the Council may determine, shall
execute and file with the city corporate surety bonds in such sums
as shall be fixed by the Council. The face of such bonds shall be
equal to the largest amount of money which is accessible to one individual
at any one time in the year. Each bond shall be joint and several,
with one (1) or more corporate sureties which shall be surety companies
authorized to do business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and
duly licensed by the Insurance Commissioner of said commonwealth.
[Amended 1-8-2007 by Ord. No. 1935[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance, which was approved
at referendum 5-15-2007 and is effective 1-8-2008, abolished the elected
position of City Treasurer and removed references to the elected office
from the Home Rule Charter.
B.
Each bond shall be conditioned upon the faithful discharge
by the official, agent or employee of the city, as well as their clerks,
assistants and appointees of all trusts confided in them by virtue
of their office, upon the just and faithful accounting or payment
over, according to law of all moneys and all balances thereof paid
to, received by or held by virtue of the office and upon the delivery
to the successor or successors in office of all books, papers, documents
or other official things held in right of the office. All such bonds
and sureties thereon, before being accepted by the city, shall be
approved by the City Solicitor. The placing of such bonds shall be
determined by the Council, and the premium therefore shall be paid
by the city. Such bonds may provide for one (1) or more additional
obligees in the event that the officer bonded is acting in a dual
or similar capacity with other political subdivisions or governmental
or quasi-governmental entities.
The Council shall provide for at least an annual
independent audit of city receipts, expenditures, accounts and reports
by a Pennsylvania certified public accountant or a certified public
accounting firm chosen by the Mayor and approved by the Council. The
results of the annual audit and financial statement of the fiscal
affairs of the city, with any recommendations, shall be included in
an annual report by the Fiscal Director. The annual audit shall be
conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing principles.
The financial report shall be prepared in accordance with generally
accepted accounting principles and shall include a balance sheet for
each fund and, on a consolidated fund basis, reflecting all current
assets, liabilities and fund balances.
