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.