The fiscal year shall begin on the first day of January and
end on the last day of December.
Sixty days before the close of the fiscal year the township
manager shall submit to the Council a budget for the next fiscal year
and an accompanying budget message.
The manager's message shall explain the budget both in
fiscal terms and in terms of the work to be done. It shall outline
the proposed financial policies of the township for the next fiscal
year; describe the important features of the budget; indicate any
major changes from the current year in financial policies, expenditures
and revenues together with the reasons for such changes; summarize
the township's debt position; and include such other material
as the manager thinks desirable.
The budget shall provide a complete financial plan of all township
funds and activities for the next fiscal year and, except as required
by law or this charter, shall be in the form the manager recommends
or the Council requires. The manager shall organize the budget in
the most feasible way, classifying expenditures by fund, organization
unit, program, purpose or activity and object.
The budget shall begin with a clear general summary of its contents;
shall show in detail all estimated income, indicating the proposed
tax levies, and all proposed expenditures including debt service for
the next fiscal year; and shall provide comparative figures for actual
and estimated income and expenditures of the current and of the preceding
fiscal years. It shall show in separate sections:
1.
Proposed expenditures for current operations during the next fiscal
year, detailed by offices, departments, and agencies in terms of their
respective work programs, and the method of financing such expenditures;
and
2.
Proposed capital expenditures during the next fiscal year, detailed
by offices, departments, and agencies when practicable, and the proposed
method of financing each capital expenditure.
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The total of proposed expenditures shall not exceed the total
of estimated income.
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The township manager shall prepare and submit to the Council
a five-year capital program at least two months prior to the fiscal
date for submission of the budget.
The capital program shall include at least the following:
1.
A simple, clear, general summary of the detailed contents of the
program;
2.
The capital improvements pending or proposed for the next fiscal
year, together with the estimated cost of each improvement and the
method for financing it;
3.
The capital program proposed for the next four years following, together
with the estimated cost of each improvement and the proposed method
of financing it; and
4.
The estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining the facilities
to be constructed or acquired.
A.
Upon submission, the budget, capital program and budget message shall
be a public record in the office of the township manager and shall
be open to public inspection. The manager shall at the same time make
available copies of the proposed budget, capital program and budget
message for distribution to interested persons.
B.
Copies of the adopted budget and capital program shall also be public
records and shall be made available to the public.
A.
Public hearing. The Council shall hold a public hearing on the budget
not less than two weeks after publication nor later than two weeks
before adoption of the budget and shall consider fully the view of
the citizens expressed at the hearing.
B.
Adoption. After the public hearing the Council shall adopt the budget
by ordinance with or without amendment prior to the beginning of the
fiscal year for which the budget has been prepared.
C.
Amendment of the budget. The Council may amend the budget by ordinance
during the fiscal year for which the budget is adopted, providing
that any amendment shall fall within the estimated income at the time
of the amendment.
D.
Appropriation. Adoption of the budget and any amendments later made
shall constitute appropriations for the expenditures included in the
budget.
A.
Public hearing. The Council shall hold a public hearing on the capital
program not less than two weeks after publication, nor later than
two weeks before adoption of the capital program, and shall consider
fully the views of the citizens expressed at the hearing.
B.
Adoption. The Council by ordinance shall adopt the capital program,
with or without amendment after the public hearing and prior to the
beginning of the next fiscal year.
Unencumbered and unexpended appropriations shall lapse at the
close of the fiscal year, but the Council may annually continue an
appropriation for a capital expenditure until the purpose for which
it was made has been accomplished.
A.
Payment of funds. No payment of any funds shall be made unless provided
for in the budget and specifically approved by the Council; provided,
however, that payroll and utility expenditures may be made at the
direction of the township manager where based on a prior ordinance
or contract. All checks or drafts of the township shall be signed
by the manager or other officer designated by Council, and shall be
counter-signed by a member of Council designated by Council.
B.
The township manager shall prepare periodic reports on the budget
during the fiscal year.
The Council shall provide for an independent annual audit of
all township accounts by a certified public accountant who has no
personal interest, direct or indirect, in the fiscal affairs of the
township or of any of its elected or appointed officers. The Council
may provide for more frequent audits as it deems necessary. The results
of the annual audit and a financial statement of the fiscal affairs
of the township shall be presented to the Council and shall be published
in a newspaper of general circulation by April 1st of the year following
the fiscal year audited.
Rates of taxation may not be increased by the Council beyond
the maximum rate that may be levied by second class townships in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as that rate is from time to time established
by the General Assembly, except by referendum.
