There shall be a Board of Finance of eight regular members,
and three alternate members, who shall be electors and taxpayers of
the Town. They shall hold no other office of trust or emolument in
the Town or State governments. Service on committees of the Town or
State governments is not prohibited by this section, provided that
such service does not create a conflict of interest as defined in
the Town Code of Ethics. No member thereof shall receive compensation
for services as such, but the necessary expenses of the Board, when
funds have been appropriated therefor by the Town Council, shall be
paid by the Treasurer. There shall be minority representation on the
Board and on the panel of alternates in accordance with § 9-167a
of the General Statutes.
The Selectmen shall annually in November after election day
appoint, subject to confirmation by an affirmative vote of seven members
of the Town Council, two members of the Board of Finance, who, after
qualification, shall hold office for a term of four years from the
15th day of November and until their successors have been appointed
and shall have qualified. The Selectmen shall appoint in the odd-numbered
years on or promptly after the first day of December, subject to confirmation
by an affirmative vote of seven members of the Town Council, the three
alternate members of the Board of Finance, who shall hold office for
a term of two years from the first day of December until their successors
have been appointed and shall have qualified. No appointment to the
Board of Finance to fill a vacancy shall be effective unless confirmed
by an affirmative vote of seven members of the Town Council.
In addition to the eight regular members of the Board of Finance,
the First Selectman shall be an ex officio member of the Board of
Finance and shall have no vote except in the case of a tie. On or
promptly after the 15th day of November each year, the Board of Finance
shall meet at the call of the First Selectman to choose one of its
regular members to be Chairman and one of its regular members to be
Secretary. The First Selectman shall not serve as Chairman or Secretary.
The Chairman shall preside and vote, when present, at all meetings
of the Board of Finance. In the absence of the Chairman, the Board
shall choose one of its regular members Chairman pro tempore who shall
preside and vote. The Secretary shall file in the office of the Town
Clerk a full and detailed record of all proceedings, acts and resolutions
of the Board, including the votes of each member on all actions taken,
and such record shall be a public record.
The alternate members of the Board of Finance, when seated as
provided herein, shall have all the powers and duties of regular members
of the Board of Finance. Alternate members shall have no vote, and
shall not count towards a quorum or for other purposes, unless seated
for a regular member. In the event of the absence of a regular member
from a meeting of the Board, or if a regular member is disqualified,
such absent or disqualified member shall designate an alternate to
act in his or her place. In the absence of such designation, the Board
of Finance, by majority vote of those members present and voting,
shall designate and seat an alternate or alternates.
At all meetings of the Board of Finance, five members shall
be a quorum and the concurrence of five votes shall be necessary for
the transaction of business, except that when only five members are
present, the concurrence of four votes shall be sufficient for the
transaction of business.
The Town Council, all officers, department heads, boards, commissions
and committees of the Town and the New Canaan Library shall annually
not later than the third Tuesday preceding the first Tuesday in February
submit to the Selectmen, in a form prescribed by the Board of Finance,
itemized estimates of their respective requests for appropriations
to cover such expenses, together with statements in detail of their
respective expenditures for similar purposes for the preceding fiscal
year and such other information as may from time to time be required
by the Board of Finance. The Selectmen shall review such estimates
or requests, including the preliminary budget estimates submitted
by the Board of Education, and shall compile a recommended budget
which shall be submitted to the Board of Finance for its consideration
not later than the first Tuesday of February in each year. The Board
of Education shall submit its preliminary budget estimates to the
Board of Selectmen, for its review and comment, not later than the
third Tuesday preceding the first Tuesday in February, and shall compile
and submit its recommended budget directly to the Board of Finance,
with a copy to the Board of Selectmen, not later than the first Tuesday
in February in each year.
All officers, department heads, boards, commissions and committees
shall submit annually to the Selectmen, with the estimates of their
respective expenses for the ensuing fiscal year and in a form prescribed
by the Board of Finance, an outline of the estimated capital expenditures
of such office, board, commission or committee during the next five
fiscal years. The Selectmen shall consider such outlines and shall
submit to the Board of Finance, not later than two weeks after the
first Tuesday of February, a recommended budget of such capital expenditures,
including such recommendation as they desire as to the creation of
a reserve therefor in the Town budget for the ensuing fiscal year.
The Board of Finance may recommend to the Town Council the establishment
of a system of retirement payments or pensions for officers or employees
of the Town, including employees of the New Canaan Library employed
prior to January 1, 2011, in consideration of years of service, age
or disability, and may recommend the amount and duration of such payments
or pensions. The Town Council, after publication once a week for two
successive weeks, together with a simultaneous posting of a warning
of the meeting of the Town Council which is to act upon the recommendation
of the Board of Finance, may approve or reject any such recommendation,
but may not increase the amount or duration of such retirement payments
or pensions or change the beneficiaries thereof. The Board of Finance,
in its annual recommendation for appropriations to cover Town expenditures
for each fiscal year, may likewise include provision for group insurance
covering officers or employees of the Town. Any existing system of
retirement payments or pensions shall remain in effect until modified
under the provisions of this section.
The Board of Finance, after receipt of the recommended budget
from the Board of Selectmen and after obtaining any further information
which it may require, shall prepare tentative budget recommendations.
The Board of Finance shall cause such recommendations to be published
at least once, together with a notice fixing the time of a public
hearing which shall be held not later than the sixth Tuesday following
the first Tuesday of February; and the place where such hearing shall
be held by the Board of Finance upon requests for appropriations,
to hear all persons, including members of the Board of Finance, who
may wish to be heard in respect to any such recommendations or who
may wish the Board of Finance to recommend any other appropriation
or any other matter within the power of the Board of Finance.
After such public hearing, the Board of Finance forthwith shall
hold a meeting or meetings to consider the estimates and requests
so presented. The Board of Finance shall thereupon prepare and present
its recommendations to the Board of Selectmen, for submission to the
Town Council, for appropriations to cover Town expenditures for the
ensuing fiscal year. Such recommendations may also include appropriations
to pay any part of the Town debt or to provide a fund for any public
improvement or any other matter within the power of the Board of Finance
and to provide a contingent fund for expenses of the Town not otherwise
provided for, which contingent fund, when appropriated by the Town
Council, shall be subject to disbursement by the Board of Finance.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a limitation upon
the Board of Finance in the disbursement of the whole or any part
of the Town contingent fund.
All such recommendations for appropriations shall be classified
under proper headings and shall be accompanied by an estimate, made
by the Board of Finance, of the amount of revenue the Town will receive
during such fiscal year from all sources, except that of taxation,
and an itemized list of the debts and obligations of the Town as of
the date of the meeting or meetings following the public hearing of
the Board of Finance and a detailed statement showing the amount of
increase or decrease of the proposed appropriation as compared to
the last previous appropriation made by the Town Council for like
purpose. Such recommendations shall include the amount of any unexpended
balances or surplus to be applied against appropriations and a reserve
for uncollectible taxes; provided, however, that if the Town Council
shall reduce the proposed appropriations so recommended and published
by an amount exceeding 5%, then in that event, the amount of unexpended
balances or surplus to be applied shall be reconsidered by the Board
of Finance for final action.
The recommendations for appropriations so prepared by the Board
of Finance shall be delivered to the Selectmen not later than the
seventh Tuesday following the first Tuesday of February in each year
in the form of a written report signed by the Chairman of the Board
of Finance and a majority of its members. The Selectmen shall forthwith
cause to be published once a week for two successive weeks a notice
of a meeting of the Town Council to act upon such recommendations,
stating the time and place thereof. The first of such notices shall
include the publication of the recommendations of the Board of Finance.
Such meeting of the Town Council shall be held not later than 11 weeks
after the first Tuesday of February in each year.
The Town Council shall take action upon each of the proposed
appropriations so recommended and published. It may approve, disapprove
or reduce but may not increase the amount of such appropriations or
any of them or the amount of any unexpended balances or surplus to
be applied or any reserve for any uncollectible taxes; and no appropriation
shall be made for any purpose not recommended and published as hereinbefore
provided. If a recommendation of the Board of Finance pertains to
some matter other than a money appropriation, then the Town Council
shall act thereon in such case as provided in this Charter.
Whenever the Board of Selectmen or the First Selectman requests
a special appropriation, or whenever a special appropriation, in the
opinion of the Board of Finance, shall be necessary for any purpose,
the Board of Finance shall deliver a recommendation to the Selectmen
and the Selectmen shall present the recommendation to a meeting of
the Town Council or may present the recommendation of the Board of
Finance to a meeting called for that purpose, whereupon the Selectmen
shall forthwith cause to be published once a week for two successive
weeks a notice of a meeting of the Town Council to consider and act
upon the recommendation of the Board of Finance for such special appropriation,
which notice shall state the time and place thereof. The Board of
Finance shall also include in its recommendation that such special
appropriation shall be paid from moneys in the Town treasury not otherwise
appropriated or by the levying of a special tax. If and when such
special appropriation shall be made by the Town Council and the levying
of a special tax to pay such special appropriation shall be approved
by the Town Council, the Board of Finance shall lay a special tax
upon the grand list last completed and fix the date or dates upon
which such special tax shall become due and payable and shall thereupon
issue a warrant to the Tax Collector to receive and collect the same
in the manner provided by the General Statutes for the collection
of taxes.
The Board of Finance may recommend the issuance of the bonds
of the Town, in the form and subject to the limitations required by
law, for any public purpose and the Board of Finance shall deliver
a recommendation to the Selectmen as to such bond issue, and the Selectmen
shall forthwith cause to be published once a week for two successive
weeks a notice of a meeting of the Town Council to consider and act
upon such recommendation of the Board of Finance stating the time
and place thereof. Such recommendation and the notice shall contain
a full and complete statement of the purpose or purposes for which
bonds are to be issued and the amount and general terms thereof. The
Town Council may approve, disapprove or reduce the amount of such
proposed bond issue, but may not increase the same nor change the
terms thereof. Such bonds, if and as approved by the Town Council,
shall be executed and signed by the First Selectman and the Town Treasurer
and the Town Clerk shall affix thereto the seal of the Town and attest
to the same.
In cases where special taxes shall be levied to provide funds
for special improvements, the Board of Finance may, after holding
its public hearing duly warned by publication at least once, at which
all persons whose property may be affected shall be heard, designate
what property shall be subject to special assessments for special
benefits and the amount thereof and the date or dates upon which such
special assessments shall become due and payable, and shall thereupon
issue a warrant to the Tax Collector to receive and collect the same
on the date or dates so fixed for such payment in accordance with
the manner provided in the General Statutes for the collection of
taxes. All such special assessments shall be borne equally by all
property similarly situated, benefited or affected.
There shall be a sewer taxing district in the Town. The Board
of Finance shall in the annual request for appropriations recommend
to the Town Council the method by which moneys shall be raised that
are necessary to maintain and operate the public sewerage system or
systems and to pay the interest and principal of all sewer and filtration
bonds heretofore issued by the Town and outstanding at the time this
Charter shall take effect or which may hereafter be issued. Unless
otherwise provided by ordinance, the Board of Finance by resolution
may from time to time include in the existing sewer taxing district
additional areas of the Town.
The Board of Finance, in laying any special assessment in connection
with the extension or improvement of the sewage disposal system in
the Town, is authorized to proceed in accordance with the General
Statutes, but no assessment or charge for the extension of the sewage
disposal system into unsewered areas shall be less than 100% of the
cost thereof, except under circumstances found by the Board of Finance
to be unusual and extraordinary or to involve undue hardship.
The Town Council may vote to abolish the sewer taxing district
and thereafter all charges for operation and maintenance of the public
sewage disposal system and for the payment of interest and amortization
of all sewer and filtration bonds shall be included in the annual
request for appropriations made by the Board of Finance to the Town
Council. In the event of the adoption of such action by the Town Council,
the Town Council and the Town Clerk shall certify such action to the
State Commissioner of Revenue Services, the Office of Policy and Management,
and to the Secretary of the State.
The Board of Finance may recommend the establishment of special
tax districts by delivery of a recommendation to the Selectmen, and
the Selectmen shall forthwith cause to be published once a week for
two successive weeks a notice of a meeting of the Town Council to
consider and act upon the recommendation of the Board of Finance,
stating the time and place thereof. The recommendation shall set forth
the purposes and conditions governing such special tax districts and
shall fix the boundaries thereof. No such district shall be established
unless the recommendations of the Board of Finance shall be approved
by the Town Council and unless a majority of the electors resident
in such proposed district and the owners of real property located
therein have consented thereto by written ballot cast at a special
election called for such purpose in each of the proposed districts.
If the Town Council approves such recommendations, it shall fix the
date, time and place or places of such special elections and provide
the usual facilities for holding the same, and the Board of Finance,
together with the Town Council, shall make an appropriation to cover
the necessary expenses thereof.
The Tax Collector shall be appointed by the Board of Selectmen
and shall serve at the pleasure of the Selectmen. The Tax Collector
shall have such powers and perform such duties, under the direction
of the Board of Selectmen, as may be prescribed by the General Statutes.
The Tax Collector shall not hold any other office in the Town government
or engage in any business in the Town that could create a conflict
of interest as defined in the Town Code of Ethics. Service on committees
of the Town government is not prohibited by this section, provided
that such service does not create a conflict of interest as defined
in the Town Code of Ethics.
The Board of Finance shall issue a warrant to the Tax Collector
to receive and collect any regular or special tax laid under the provisions
of this Charter, which warrant shall specify the grand list upon which
such tax is laid and the date or dates when it shall become due and
payable. Such warrant shall be signed by the Chairman of the Board
of Finance and a majority thereof. The Town Clerk shall affix thereto
the Town seal and attest to the same.
The Board of Finance, in fixing the dates as to when taxes shall
become due and payable, may provide that the taxes on personal property
or taxes on real property, or both, shall become due and payable in
one or more installments. The provisions of the General Statutes as
now or hereafter amended, shall be applicable to delinquent regular
taxes or to delinquent special taxes laid under the provisions of
this Charter.
The liens on property for taxes annually laid by the Town of
New Canaan on any grand list shall date from the first day of July
next preceding the completion of the lists upon which such taxes shall
be laid.
Lien fees collected by and paid to the Tax Collector of the
Town in accordance with the provisions of the General Statutes shall
be credited to the general fund thereof.
The Board of Finance, upon recommendation of the Director of
Public Works, shall have power to establish equitable rates, and from
time to time revise such rates, for the use of any system of public
water supply authorized by the Town Council, to be paid by the owner
of each lot or building receiving the benefits thereof, provided such
rates shall be so computed as to provide revenue sufficient to meet
the cost of maintaining and operating such system and to pay the cost
of interest and amortization on all outstanding water supply bonds
hereafter issued by the Town. Such rates shall be collected in the
manner provided by the General Statutes for the collection of taxes.
The Board of Finance shall make an appropriation sufficient to pay any judgment rendered against the Town by a court of competent jurisdiction when, in the opinion of the Board of Finance, all reasonable legal defenses or remedies have been invoked. The moneys necessary to pay such appropriation may be withdrawn for that purpose from funds in the Town treasury not otherwise appropriated, if the same be sufficient. Should the money in the Town treasury available for such purpose be insufficient, the Board of Finance may, by resolution, authorize the Treasurer to borrow the amount necessary. The sum so borrowed shall be included by the Board in the next tax levy upon the grand list of the Town last completed and the Board of Finance shall fix the rate thereof in an amount sufficient to provide the moneys necessary to pay such judgment with the interest due thereon and fix the date or dates when such tax shall be due and payable. The Board shall thereupon issue its warrant, in the form prescribed in § C5-20 hereof, to the Tax Collector to receive and collect the same.
There shall be an Audit Committee of five members who shall
be electors of the Town. The members shall serve without compensation
and shall hold no other office of trust or emolument in the Town government
nor serve on any other committees of the Town government. No member
may accept any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee from
the Town, nor shall a member have had any material financial relationship
with the Town in the three years prior to appointment to the Committee.
Additional qualifications are defined by Town Ordinance, as amended.
The Board of Selectmen shall appoint members of the Audit Committee,
subject to confirmation by an affirmative vote of seven members of
the Town Council, for a term of three years to begin on December 1st
each year, with two members to be appointed the first year, two members
to be appointed the second year, and one member to be appointed the
third year. Members may serve for no more than three successive three-year
terms or part thereof.
Each member, after qualification, shall hold office from their
initial appointment and until a successor has been appointed and shall
have qualified. In the event of a vacancy due to death, resignation
or removal, within 60 days of such vacancy the Selectmen will appoint
a successor member of the Committee. There shall be minority representation
on the Committee in accordance with § 9-167a of the General
Statutes.
On or promptly after the first day of December in each year
the Audit Committee shall meet at the call of the First Selectman
to choose one of its members to be Chairman and one of its members
to be Secretary. The Chairman shall, when present, preside at all
meetings of the Committee and shall have a vote as a member thereof.
In the absence of the Chairman or Secretary, as the case may be, the
Committee shall choose one of its members Chairman pro tempore or
one of its members Secretary pro tempore. Three members shall be a
quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting.
The Secretary shall file in the office of the Town Clerk agendas
and minutes of all meetings of the Committee, including the votes
of each member on all actions taken.
The Committee shall prepare and send an annual report of its
activities to the Town Bodies within sixty days after filing of the
financial statements with the State Office of Policy and Management.
Subject to Town Ordinance, as amended, the purpose of the Audit
Committee is to assist the Town Bodies (Board of Selectmen, Town Council,
Board of Finance and Board of Education) in fulfilling the Town Bodies'
respective oversight responsibilities relating to:
A.
The integrity of the Town's financial statements, financial
reporting processes and systems of internal accounting and controls;
B.
The annual independent audit of the Town's financial statements,
the engagement of the independent auditors and the evaluation of the
independent auditors' qualifications, independence and performance;
C.
Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements that could materially
impact the Town's financial statements;
D.
The evaluation of enterprise risk issues;
E.
The engagement of the internal audit resources and ensuring the adequacy
and completeness of an internal audit annual plan and related resources,
receiving the related reports, and evaluating the internal auditor(s)
qualifications, independence and performance; and
F.
Overseeing the Town's plan for corrective action which should
include appropriate and timely follow-up measures.
In performing the Committee's duties, members may reasonably
rely upon management to prepare financial statements in accordance
with applicable standards and to maintain an effective system of internal
controls that provide reasonable assurances regarding the reliability
of financial reporting.
Any person, group or organization receiving funds from the Town
of New Canaan to be disbursed for public purposes shall keep records
of the method and manner in which such funds received from the Town
are expended, shall submit to the Board of Selectmen annual reports
in a form prescribed by that Board, setting forth the details of the
expenditures of such funds, and shall submit such records for audit
by the Town Auditors.
The Town shall maintain a system of accounting for keeping records
to show amounts of current and past taxes and all types of liabilities
of each taxpaying entity and the collections, adjustments, charges
and abatements. The Town shall maintain its financial records in accordance
with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and in compliance
with the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB). The Town Finance
Department shall maintain sound internal controls, including appropriate
separation of duties. The Town shall annually hire an independent
accounting firm to audit the financial books of the Town, and require
the firm to submit a formal audit report to the Town Council, Board
of Finance, and the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management to
ensure that the Town is in compliance with the provisions of the General
Statutes.
A.
The Board of Finance may, by resolution, transfer unexpended balances
from one appropriation to another, but no amount appropriated for
any purpose, whether general or special, shall be used or appropriated
for other purposes without the approval of the Board of Finance, expressed
by resolution thereof. Unexpended cash balances remaining at the end
of any fiscal year may, by resolution of the Board of Finance, be
either transferred to a surplus account or subtracted from the amount
the Town Council has authorized to be raised by taxation for the ensuing
fiscal year.
B.
All uncommitted appropriations for capital improvements may, at the
end of any fiscal year, with the approval of the Board of Finance,
be continued and set up as a reserve for the same purposes and may
be committed by the Board of Finance for the same capital improvements
for one fiscal year after the expiration of the fiscal year for which
such appropriations were originally made.
Neither the Town Council nor any officer, board, commission or committee shall expend any money or enter into any contract for any purpose by which the Town shall become liable for any sum which, with any contract then in force, shall exceed the sum appropriated by the Town for such purpose, except in cases of necessity connected with the repair of public buildings, sewers, sewage disposal plants, highways and bridges and with public welfare, and then not to exceed the amount provided by § 7-348 of the General Statutes. Should any emergency arise whereby more money is needed for any department or service of the Town government than has been appropriated, the Selectmen shall notify the Board of Finance of such fact and the Chairman of said Board of Finance shall thereupon call a special meeting thereof to consider an additional appropriation. The Board of Finance may make the necessary appropriation therefor if it shall not exceed the amount provided in § 7-348 of the General Statutes, but not more than one such appropriation shall be made during any one fiscal year. In case no funds shall be available to meet such additional appropriations, the Town may, with the consent of the Board of Finance, given by resolution, borrow the amount necessary, and the sum so borrowed shall be included by the Board of Finance in the next regular tax levy upon the Town. If any sum greater than the amount provided in § 7-348 shall be necessary, the Board of Finance shall proceed under and in accordance with the provisions of § C5-12 relating to special appropriations. Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a limitation upon the Town in issuing bonds as herein provided or expending the proceeds therefrom in accordance with the vote of the Town Council. Nothing in this section shall be construed to be a limitation upon the Board of Finance in the disbursement of the whole or any part of the Town contingent fund. In the event of budget category shortfalls in any department other than the Board of Education, the Chief Financial Officer, with the approval of the Board of Finance, may make line item transfers, provided the total budget shall not be increased thereby.
Should the Town Council or any officer or officers or any board, commission or committee expend or cause to be expended any money of the Town or enter into any contract in violation of § C5-29, he, she, they or the members, jointly and severally, of such board, commission or committee or of the Town Council shall be liable in a civil action in the name of the Town and the amount so drawn from the treasury or for which the Town is made liable under such contract shall be liquidated damages in such action against such officer or officers or members of such board, commission or committee or the Town Council, but this section shall not be construed as preventing the Town from pursuing any other remedy which might be provided by law.
