The head of the department of finance shall be the director of finance. He shall have knowledge of municipal accounting and taxation, and shall have experience in budgeting and financial control.
The director of finance shall have charge of the administration of financial affairs of the city, and to that end he shall have authority and be required to:
(1) 
Maintain a general accounting system for the city and each of its departments and offices; exercise financial control over the same; keep such books and records and submit such financial statements to the city manager and the board of aldermen as they may require.
(2) 
Prescribe the forms of all financial records, receipts, vouchers, bills, and claims used by all departments and offices of the city.
(3) 
Supervise and be responsible for the disbursement of all monies of the city, and have control over all expenditures to insure that they are proper and that appropriations are not exceeded.
(4) 
Certify, before any contract, order, or other document is executed by which the city would incur financial obligation, that the expenditure is within the purpose of the appropriation and the work program contemplated thereby, and that there is a sufficient unencumbered balance in the appropriation account and in the proper fund to pay the obligation.
(5) 
Preaudit and approve before payment all bills, invoices, payrolls, and other evidences of claims against the city, and draw and sign checks for the payment of all such valid claims, with countersignature by such person as the board of aldermen shall designate for the safeguarding of city funds.
(6) 
Inspect and audit any accounts or records of financial transactions which may be maintained in his department and in any other department or office of the city.
(7) 
Collect or provide for the collection of all taxes, special assessments, license fees, and other revenues or monies due the city from any source whatsoever; and receive from the various departments and offices all fees, revenues, and monies collected by them.
(8) 
Serve as treasurer for the city, and deposit all funds coming into his custody in such depositories as may be designated by the board of aldermen. All such funds shall be secured in accordance with law and ordinance.
(9) 
Make and have custody of all investments of the city, including those held in a fiduciary capacity, under such regulations as the board of aldermen may prescribe.
(10) 
Compile the information required for preparing the budget, and assist the city manager in its preparation.
(11) 
Arrange for the assessment of all taxable property within the city in the manner provided by the board of aldermen and in accordance with law.
(12) 
Perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the city manager.
There shall be within the department of finance a purchasing agent, who may be the city manager or someone appointed by him. Pursuant to regulations established by ordinance, the purchasing agent shall contract for, purchase, store, and distribute all supplies, materials, and equipment required by any department or office of the city, except boards and commissions which may be exempt by law from such regulations.
The city manager may establish regulations under which the purchase of designated materials and equipment may be exempt from central purchasing regulations.
The fiscal year and the budget year of the city shall, unless otherwise provided by ordinance, begin on the first day of July and end on the last day of June of the following year.
[1]
Editor's Note: Commencing with the fiscal year of 1978-1979, the City of Clayton, Missouri, fiscal year will begin the first day of October and end the last day of September. This amendment was adopted June 13, 1978 by Ord. No. 3962.
The city manager shall present to the board of aldermen an annual budget and long range capital budgets prepared in such manner as may be provided by ordinance and in accordance with accepted principles of municipal budgeting. The time for the presentation of the annual budget shall be set by the board of aldermen in consultation with the city manager, and if not so set, the budget shall be presented not less than thirty days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year.
At the meeting of the board of aldermen at which the budget is submitted, the board shall determine the time and place for a public hearing on the budget, to be held on or before the next regular meeting date, and the city clerk shall immediately provide for giving public notice in accordance with rules provided by the board. At the time and place provided in the public notice, or at a time and place to which such hearing may be adjourned, interested persons shall be given an opportunity to be heard.
The budget and all supporting schedules shall be a public record in the office of the city clerk and open to public inspection. The city manager shall have sufficient copies of the budget prepared for distribution to interested persons.
The city manager shall present, along with the annual budget, an appropriation bill which, if adopted, will authorize the expenditures proposed in the budget. The board of aldermen may insert new items or may increase, decrease, or eliminate items in the appropriation bill.
If the appropriation bill has not been adopted under the provisions of this charter so that it can become effective by the first day of the fiscal year, then the bill presented by the manager shall become effective on the first day of the fiscal year the same as if it had been so adopted.
From the effective date of the appropriation ordinance, the several amounts stated therein shall be appropriated to the several objects and purposes of expenditure, but the city manager may control the rate at which any appropriation is expended during the period of the appropriation, by allotment or other means, and may reduce the expenditures of the city or any of its agencies below the appropriations whenever the actual revenues are less than the revenue estimates upon which the appropriations were based.
The city manager may transfer any unencumbered appropriation balance or portion thereof from one classification of expenditure to another within a department or office. At the request of the city manager, the board of aldermen may by resolution transfer any unencumbered appropriation balance or portion thereof from one department or office to another. All appropriations shall lapse at the end of the budget year to the extent that they shall not have been spent or lawfully encumbered.
The board of aldermen shall by ordinance, after the appropriation ordinance is adopted, set the tax rates on the various classes of property as assessed, and such rates shall be certified by the city clerk to the director of finance, who shall compute the taxes and extend them upon the tax rolls.
The city may issue its negotiable bonds in evidence of indebtedness incurred for any purpose which may be authorized in this charter, and for any purpose for which any city is authorized to incur indebtedness under the constitution and laws of the state. Some of the purposes hereby specifically authorized for which the bonds of the city may be issued, sold, pledged, or disposed of on the credit of the city, or solely upon the credit of specific property owned by the city, or solely upon the credit of income derived from property used in connection with any public utility owned or operated by the city, or upon any two or more such credits, shall be:
(1) 
The acquiring of land; the purchase, construction, reconstruction, repairs, and improvement upon or extension of the following: water systems, including lakes and reservoirs; public sewers, sewage disposal plants; buildings and equipment for the police and fire departments; libraries and their equipment; other public buildings and equipment therefor; facilities and equipment for the collection and disposal of garbage and refuse; bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels, railroads, bus lines, terminals for bus, air, and railroad travel and their equipment; warehouses, public market facilities, airports, and equipment therefor; street lighting systems, gas or electric utility systems, heating and power plants, telephone and telegraph systems, facilities for radio and television broadcasting and reception; off-street parking facilities; any public utility or equipment therefor; public housing, hospitals, orphan homes, industrial schools, jails, workhouses, and other charitable, correctional, or penal institutions and equipment therefor; golf courses, swimming pools, and other recreational facilities, and their equipment; parks, parkways, streets, boulevards, grounds, or other public improvements.
(2) 
The paying, refunding, or renewing of any bonds issued by the city, whether general obligation bonds or revenue bonds, and the establishment of a local improvement fund to be used for the purpose of paying cash for local improvements, such fund to be replenished from time to time by the payment into it of the proceeds of special assessments made on account of such local improvements.
The foregoing enumeration shall not be construed to limit any general provision of this charter or of law authorizing the city to borrow money or issue and dispose of bonds, and such general provisions shall be construed according to the full force and effect of their language as if no specific purposes had been mentioned; and the authority to issue such bonds for any purpose aforesaid is cumulative and shall not be construed to impair any authority to make any public improvements under any provision of this charter or of any law.
If, under the constitution and laws of the state, an election is required to authorize the issuance of any bonds, the number of votes required for approval shall be as therein specified. Notice of such elections shall be given, and such elections held, conducted, and the returns made, canvassed, and declared in the manner provided by ordinance consistent with the constitution and laws of the state.
Prior to the adoption of an ordinance calling or providing for the holding of an election at which any question of the incurring of any tax-secured bonded indebtedness shall be submitted, the director of finance shall prepare, swear to, and file for public inspection in the office of the city clerk, a special debt statement which shall set forth:
(1) 
The aggregate principal amount of all outstanding bonds and notes of the city.
(2) 
Deductions, if any, permitted by the constitution and general laws.
(3) 
The amount of existing net indebtedness.
(4) 
The amount of net indebtedness after the issuance of the bonds authorized by such bond ordinance.
(5) 
The assessed valuation of all taxable tangible property within the city as shown by the last completed assessment for state and county purposes.
(6) 
The aggregate principal amount of bonds which the city may issue pursuant to law.
This debt statement, after approval by a majority of the board of aldermen, shall be published with the notice of the bond election and shall be presumed to be accurate.
All bonds shall be sold at public sale upon sealed proposals. At least ten days prior to the date of sale, the director of finance shall give notice by direct mail and by such other advertising as the board of aldermen may direct to all parties and financial institutions which in his opinion may be interested in the purchase of such bonds or which make written application for such notice.