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.
The total of proposed expenditures shall not exceed the total of estimated income.
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.