The fiscal year of the Town shall begin on the first day of
July and shall end on the thirtieth day of June.
The Town Manager shall require each department, office and agency
of the Town supported wholly or in part by Town funds, or for which
a specific Town appropriation is made, including the Board of Education,
to set forth, in narrative or in such other form as the Town Manager
may prescribe, a program or programs showing services, activities
and work accomplished during the current fiscal year and to be accomplished
during the ensuing fiscal year.
(a)
In addition to the budget, the Town Manager shall present to the
Board of Selectmen a plan of proposed capital projects ("CIP") for
the ensuing fiscal year and for the five (5) fiscal years thereafter.
Estimates of the costs of such projects shall be submitted by each
department, office and agency annually by February fifteenth in the
form and manner prescribed by the Town Manager. The Board of Selectmen
shall then recommend to the Board of Finance those projects to be
undertaken during the ensuing fiscal year and the method of financing
same.
(b)
Only those projects which appear on the previous year's CIP for the
ensuing year may be considered for approval. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
upon an affirmative vote by no fewer than four (4) members of the
Board of Selectmen projects other than those published in the CIP
for the ensuing year may be considered for approval and included in
the adopted budget if the need to fund the project is determined to
be in the best interest of the Town.
The head of each department, office or agency of the Town as
described in Section 802 of this chapter, except the Board of Education,
shall, not later than the thirty-first day of January in each year,
file with the Director of Finance on forms prescribed and provided
by the Town Manager a detailed estimate of the expenditures to be
made by such department, office or agency and the revenues, other
than tax revenue, to be collected thereby in the ensuing fiscal year
and such other information as may be required by the Board of Selectmen
or the Town Manager.
The Director of Finance shall compile departmental estimates
for the annual budget. Not later than the first day of March in each
year the Director of Finance shall, under the direction of the Town
Manager, present to the Board of Selectmen the completed budget of
all boards, offices and agencies, except the Board of Education, compiled
in the manner set forth in Section 807 of this chapter.
Not later than the fifteenth day of March of each year, the
Board of Education shall present its budget, compiled in the manner
set forth in Section 807 of this chapter, to the Director of Finance,
the Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen.
Not later than the thirty-first day of March in each year the
Board of Selectmen shall present to the Board of Finance a budget
for all departments, offices or agencies of the Town except the Board
of Education consisting of: (a) a budget message outlining the financial
policy of the Town government and describing in connection therewith
the important features of the budget plan indicating any major changes
from the current year in financial policies, expenditures, and revenues
together with the reasons for such changes, and containing a clear
general summary of its contents; (b) estimates of revenue, presenting
in parallel columns the itemized receipts collected in the last completed
fiscal year prior to the time of preparing the estimates, total receipts
estimated to be collected during the current fiscal year, estimates
of the receipts, other than from the property tax, to be collected
in the ensuing fiscal year, and an estimate of available surplus;
(c) itemized estimates of expenditures, presenting in parallel columns
the actual expenditures for each department, office, agency or activity
for the last completed fiscal year and for the current fiscal year
prior to the time of preparing the estimates, total expenditures as
estimated for the current fiscal year, appropriations as proposed
by the Board of Selectmen for all items for the ensuing fiscal year,
provided that the Selectmen may offer recommendations but may not
make any adjustments in the budget submitted by the Board of Education
for the ensuing fiscal year, and such other information as may be
required by the Board of Finance. The Town Manager shall present reasons
for all such proposals and recommendations. In addition to the budget,
the Town Manager shall present to the Board of Selectmen a Capital
Improvement Plan which conforms to the requirements of Section 803
of this Charter. Pursuant to Section 803, the Board of Selectmen shall
then recommend to the Board of Finance those projects to be undertaken
during the ensuing fiscal year and the method of financing the same.
The Board of Finance shall hold one (1) or more public hearings
the first of which shall be held not later than the tenth day of April
in each year at which time any Elector or taxpayer shall have an opportunity
to be heard regarding appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year.
Following receipt of the revenue and expenditure estimates for the
ensuing fiscal year, the Board of Finance shall cause sufficient copies
of the estimates to be made available for general distribution in
the office of the Town Clerk and posted on the Town website the same
day as the date of the filing with the Town Clerk. At least five (5)
days prior to the first of the aforementioned hearings, the Board
of Finance shall cause to be published, in a newspaper having substantial
circulation in the Town, a notice of such public hearing. Such notice
of public hearing shall reference the summary of proposed budget estimates
showing anticipated revenues by major sources, and proposed expenditures
by function or departments, and shall also show the amount to be raised
by taxation, as available on file with the Town Clerk and as posted
on the Town website. The Board of Finance shall, by resolution adopted
by an affirmative vote of at least four (4) members after holding
the final such public hearing, and no more than ten (10) days after
such final public hearing approve a budget and file the same with
the Town Clerk for submission to automatic referendum. The budget,
as approved by the Board of Finance, shall be published at least five
(5) days prior to the automatic referendum on such budget. The resolution
of the Board of Finance approving the budget may provide for appropriations
by department or function, and such appropriations need not be in
greater detail than to indicate the total appropriation for each department
or function. Should the Board of Finance fail to approve a budget
no more than ten (10) days after such final public hearing, the budget
as transmitted by the Board of Selectmen in accordance with the provisions
of Section 807 of this chapter and the Board of Education in accordance
with the provisions of Section 806 of this chapter shall be deemed
to have been finally approved by the Board of Finance and the same
shall be filed with the Town Clerk for submission to the automatic
referendum. For the purposes of Chapters 108 and 111 of the General
Statutes, the Board of Finance shall be deemed to be the budget-making
authority and shall have all the powers and duties contained in Chapter
108 for the creation of a Reserve Fund for Capital and Nonrecurring
Expenditures, and shall have the power to select the independent public
accountant as provided in Chapter 111.
The Board of Finance shall supervise and maintain the Town pension
and other post-employment benefit funds in accordance with rules and
regulations contained in agreements between the Town employees and
the Town of Simsbury and or the Board of Education regarding pension
and other post-employment benefits. The Board of Finance shall, after
consultation with the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen,
ensure the pension funds are prudently invested and shall also supervise
and maintain the Retiree Benefit Fund established pursuant to the
Town code of ordinances and designate the annual contribution to be
made to insure said pension and post employment funds. The investment
and management of the assets of any such fund shall be in compliance
with the prudent investor rule as set forth in Conn. Gen. Stat. Sections
45a-541 to 45a-541l inclusive of the General Statutes.
The Board of Finance shall have the power, by resolution and
only upon the recommendation of a majority of the entire Board of
Selectmen, to make any appropriation supplemental to those provided
in the annual budget for the then current fiscal year. Except as set
forth in Section 810, any individual appropriation for any purpose
made equal to or greater than two percent (2%) of the annual budget
for the then current fiscal year is subject to automatic referendum
pursuant to Section 406 of this Charter. Any individual appropriation
for any purpose less than two percent (2%) of the annual budget for
the then current fiscal year may be made upon approval of the Board
of Selectmen and the Board of Finance. Supplemental appropriations
as described in this section not approved at referendum may not exceed
in any fiscal year a cumulative total of three percent (3%) of the
annual budget for the then current fiscal year.
The Board of Selectmen shall have the power, by resolution,
upon recommendation of the Board of Finance to incur indebtedness,
the term of which shall not exceed one (1) year, for any specific
purpose in order to finance so much of the supplemental appropriations
as are not available from other funds. The Board of Finance shall
also have such other powers and duties not inconsistent with this
Charter, conferred or imposed by the General Statutes on Town Boards
of Finance.
For the purpose of meeting a public emergency threatening the
lives, health or property of citizens, emergency appropriations, the
total amount of which shall not exceed fifty percent (50%) of the
undesignated fund balance for the then current fiscal year, may be
made upon the recommendation of at least four (4) members of the Board
of Selectmen and by an affirmative vote of not fewer than four (4)
members of the Board of Finance. In the absence of sufficient general
fund resources to meet such appropriations, additional means of financing
shall be provided in such manner, consistent with the provisions of
the General Statutes and of this Charter, as may be determined by
the Board of Finance.
It shall be the duty of the Tax Collector to mail or send by
other means as provided by the General Statutes to each taxpayer a
tax bill prepared in accordance with the provisions of Sections 12-130
and 12-131 of the General Statutes. Except as otherwise specifically
provided in this Charter, the assessment of property for taxation
and the collection of taxes shall be carried on in accordance with
the provisions of Chapters 203 and 204 of the General Statutes.
(a)
No purchase to be satisfied with the Town funds shall be made by
any department, board, commission or officer of the Town including
the Board of Education, except through procedures established by the
Director of Finance. The Director of Finance shall cause the amount
authorized for purchases and contracts for future purchases to be
recorded as encumbrances against the appropriations from which they
are to be paid.
(b)
No voucher, claim or charge against the Town shall be paid until
the same has been audited by the Director of Finance and approved
by him or her for correctness and validity. Payment of all approved
claims against Board of Education accounts shall be authorized by
the Superintendent of Schools, or his or her agent, which authorization
shall be valid when countersigned by the Director of Finance acting
as the Treasurer. Payment of all approved claims against all other
Town accounts shall be authorized by the Town Manager which authorization
shall be valid when countersigned by the Director of Finance acting
as the Treasurer, provided, in the absence or inability to act of
the Town Manager, the Town Manager shall appoint a substitute temporarily
for the Town Manager.
(c)
The Director of Finance shall prescribe the time at which and the
manner in which persons receiving money on behalf of the Town shall
pay the same to him or her in his or her capacity as Town Treasurer.
(d)
No expenditure and no commitment to make an expenditure shall be
made, caused to be made, or authorized by any officer, agent or agency
of the Town, or by any board or commission of the Town unless an appropriation
shall have been made covering such expenditure or commitment in accordance
with the provisions of this Charter.
(e)
Each order drawn upon the Director of Finance shall state the department,
commission, board or officer and the appropriation against which it
is to be charged.
(f)
Upon the request of the Board of Selectmen during the last six (6)
months of the fiscal year, the Board of Finance may, by resolution,
transfer any unencumbered appropriation, balance or portion thereof
from one (1) department, commission, board or office to another; provided,
however, that this provision shall not apply to the Board of Education.
No transfer shall be made from any appropriations for debt service
and other statutory charges.
(g)
Appropriations for construction or for other permanent improvements,
from whatever source derived, shall not lapse until the purpose for
which the appropriation was made shall have been accomplished or abandoned,
provided any such project shall be deemed to have been abandoned if
three (3) fiscal years shall elapse without any expenditure from or
encumbrances of the appropriations therefor. Any portion of an annual
appropriation remaining unexpended and unencumbered at the close of
the fiscal year shall lapse.
(h)
Every payment made in violation of the provisions of this Charter
shall be deemed illegal, and every official willfully authorizing
or making such payment or taking part therein shall be jointly and
severally liable to the Town for the full amount so paid or received.
(i)
The Board of Selectmen may adopt, by resolution, such rules and regulations
concerning expenditures, and bidding procedures, not inconsistent
with the provisions of this section, as it may from time to time deem
necessary and appropriate.
The Town shall have the power to incur indebtedness by issuing
its bonds or notes as provided by the General Statutes subject to
the limitations thereof and the provisions of this Charter. The issuance
of bonds and notes, except tax anticipation notes, shall be authorized
by resolution of the Board of Selectmen in accordance with the provisions
of Chapter IV of this Charter. The issuance of notes, the term of
which does not exceed one (1) year, may be authorized by the Board
of Selectmen upon recommendation of the Board of Finance in accordance
with Section 809 of this Charter.
