A.
There shall be in the Office of Management and Budget the City Comptroller
who shall be the chief fiscal officer of the City, who shall be appointed
by and serve at the pleasure of the Mayor, subject to confirmation
by the Council. At the time of appointment, the Comptroller must have
one of two sets of credentials: a master's degree in accounting or
business administration from an accredited college or university,
and five years of progressively responsible public accounting or management
experience; or, a four-year degree in accounting/business information
from an accredited college or university, and seven years of progressively
responsible experience as described herein. The Comptroller shall
be responsible for the overall financial administration and operations
of the City; shall keep and maintain the financial records of the
City, and may, with approval of the Mayor and subject to appropriations
made in the City budget, appoint such staff as are necessary to perform
the functions of the department. The Office of the City Comptroller
shall be organized into such offices and bureaus as determined by
the Comptroller.
B.
In addition, the Office of the
City Comptroller shall:
1.
Be responsible for the oversight and accountability of all City financial
activity, including the verification of recorded financial information
and the preparation of interim and annual financial reports.
2.
Oversee the processing of the City real property taxes and user charges,
and the processing of real property tax transactions and user fees,
including their levy, collection and enforcement.
3.
Provide direct oversight of the City accounting system, including
verification of recorded data.
4.
Provide for the collection and custody of all funds received by the
City Treasurer who shall, when properly authorized, make all disbursements
from such funds.
5.
Provide for the administration of the real property tax in the City,
including the determination of assessed valuation of real property
and the processing of all City real property tax exemptions by the
City Assessor.
6.
Provide for the oversight, accounting, sale or lease by the City
Assessor of City-owned real property determined to be surplus and
no longer needed for City purposes, and real property taken by the
City pursuant to law through in rem proceedings.
7.
Administer the City's procurement policy and provide for the lawful
administration of the purchase of goods, services, real and personal
property by the City.
8.
Provide for the lawful disposition of City-owned personal property
determined to be surplus and no longer needed for City purposes.
9.
Prepare and administer the payroll of the City.
10.
Provide for the payment of valid claims against the City, indebtedness
obligations of the City, payroll and associated costs, and inter-
and intra-fund transfers.
11.
Provide for the administration of Workers' Compensation, medical,
and dental claims against the City; maintain a claims records management
system sufficient to account for individual claims activity and, as
may be necessary, utilize and provide liaison to organizations that
can render advice to the City and assist in the processing of claims.
12.
The Comptroller, with approval of the Mayor, may assume direct charge
of any one or more of the functions of the office of the Comptroller
excepting only the Bureau of the Treasury.
There may be a City Treasurer who shall be head of the Bureau
of the Treasury. The City Treasurer shall be appointed by the Mayor.
In the absence of a City Treasurer, the City Comptroller shall perform
the duties of such position. The City Treasurer shall be Deputy Comptroller
and, under the supervision and control of the Comptroller, shall have
the custody of all City funds, and, when properly authorized, shall
make all disbursements from such funds.
There shall be a City Assessor who shall be head of the Bureau
of Assessments and the Bureau of Surplus Property. The City Assessor,
certified by the state, shall be appointed by the Mayor and serve
a term of office as provided in Subdivision 2 of § 310 of
the Real Property Tax Law. Under the supervision and control of the
Comptroller, the City Assessor shall make all assessments for general
tax or special assessment purposes. The City Assessor shall adopt
and maintain a definite system of making appraisals to be used in
establishing assessed valuation of all parcels of taxable property
within the city. It also shall be the duty of the City Assessor to
expedite the sale of City-owned property and property acquired through
the foreclosure of tax liens and of other City property not dedicated
to be held for a public purpose.
There shall be a Registrar of Vital Statistics who shall be
appointed by the Mayor for an indefinite term of office under the
supervision and control of the Mayor. The Registrar shall maintain
permanent records of all births and deaths occurring within the City.
The Registrar shall record all stillbirths and issue burial permits.
There shall be a City Purchasing Agent who shall be head of
the Bureau of Purchases. The Agent shall be appointed by the City
Comptroller with the approval of the Mayor, to serve at the pleasure
of the Mayor. Under the supervision and control of the Comptroller,
the Purchasing Agent shall make all purchases for the City, including
purchases by contract, and shall have all powers of a purchasing agent
or a purchasing agency under the General City Law and any other applicable
state law. The Purchasing Agent shall comply with all public bidding
requirements, shall bid all contracts for services and goods so far
as reasonably possible, and shall make all purchases on a nonpartisan,
non-patronage basis, according to standards of price, quality, and
general terms and conditions of purchase.
The City Comptroller, the City Treasurer, the City Purchasing
Agent, the City Auditor, and department heads in general, before exercising
any of the powers or performing any of the duties of their respective
offices, shall execute a bond to the City in such sums as the City
Council may direct by ordinance, and with such sureties as the Council
may approve, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties
of their offices, and that they will properly apply and account for
all public money and public property received by them. Said bond may
be a blanket bond covering all such employees, whichever the Council
shall decide. Such bond or bonds shall be filed in the office of the
Clerk of Rensselaer County, and recorded at length in a book kept
for the purpose of recording bonds of City officers.
