Township of Montague, NJ Article VIII Department of Finance

§ 2-36 Establishment.

The financial business of the township shall be conducted by a Department of Finance.

§ 2-37 Division of the Treasury.

A. Township Treasurer. Within the Department of Finance there shall be a Division of the Treasury, the head of which shall be the Township Treasurer. The Tax Collector, when so appointed by the Township Committee, a Township Committeeman or any other suitably qualified person who is a resident of the township may be the Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be appointed annually on January 1 and serve for a term of one year; provided, however, that a Treasurer having attained tenure shall remain in office, during satisfactory performance and good behavior, without annual reappointment and according to law.

B. Powers and duties of Treasurer. The Treasurer shall have, perform and exercise all of the functions, powers and duties provided by general law and township ordinances. He shall keep and maintain books and records of all financial transactions of the township in accordance with the standards and requirements of the Division of Local Finance in the Department of Community Affairs of the State of New Jersey. He shall have custody of all public moneys of the township and shall make monthly reports to the Township Committee of all receipts, expenditures, commitments, obligations and unexpended appropriations. Within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, he shall, under penalties prescribed by law, make for the Township Committee and file with the Township Clerk a detailed statement of the amount of bonds issued and outstanding and a full and detailed account of his receipts and disbursements for the preceding fiscal year. The statement shall be in writing and verified by him under oath and may be prepared with the advice, assistance and consultation of the Township Auditor. All moneys received from any source by or on behalf of the township or any department, board, office or agency thereof, except as otherwise provided by township ordinance, shall be paid to the Treasurer, who shall, within 48 hours after their receipt, deposit them in the authorized public depository of the township to the credit of the proper account.

C. Payment of claims; procedure.

[Amended 9-23-97 by Ord. No. 97-7]

(1) Prior to submittal to the Township Committee, the Treasurer shall certify that each bill and corresponding purchase order is in order and is mathematically correct and that funds are available;

(2) All vouchers shall be available for inspection upon request to the Township Committee during regular working hours prior to placement on the bill list;

(3) No voucher or purchase order or its copies once received by the Treasurer shall be removed from the Treasurer's Office except for the orderly process of this subsection;

(4) Vouchers must bear three signatures of approval by the Township Committee; of these three signatures, one must be that of the Mayor;

(5) No purchase order shall be paid without prior approval of a bill list and corresponding voucher unless declared an emergency in accordance with health and safety provisions of the municipality or is a mandated expense, i.e. utilities, insurance, payroll, interfunds, etc.;

(6) The Treasurer shall prepare for review, by the Friday prior to the Committee meeting, a bill list from the purchase orders setting forth the voucher number, vendor's name, brief description of the goods or service and the dollar amount. Copies of this list shall be given to the Township Committee, Township Clerk, and one copy posted for the public prior to the approval of said list;

(7) No voucher or purchase order or its copies once received by the Treasurer shall be removed from the orderly process prescribed by this subsection once the bill list is complete. Said vouchers or purchase orders may only be removed from the bill list prior to its approval with a majority vote of the Township Committee;

(8) Any voucher received by the Treasurer after the bill list has been compiled and distributed for review shall be held until the next billing cycle except where the Treasurer has provided to the Township Committee advance written notice of amendment(s) to said list;

(9) A resolution shall be duly adopted by roll call vote at the regular or special meeting of the Mayor and Township Committee, approving the bills to be paid as set forth on the original and/or amended bill list;

(10) Once approval of the bill list has been acquired, it is the responsibility of the Mayor and members of the Township Committee to make themselves available, within three business days, to ensure that each voucher is signed with the duly authorized signatures;

(11) The next regular working day following approval of the bill list, the Township Clerk shall present to the Treasurer a certified copy of the bill list approved by the Township Committee. Said certified list should denote any vouchers that may have been removed from the list by majority vote of the Township Committee.

(12) The Mayor, Clerk and Treasurer shall sign all checks approved by the Township Committee, verifying the amounts of the checks to the corresponding purchase orders;

(13) The aforementioned checks shall be signed and mailed to the vendors by the Finance Department within seven working days of their approval;

(14) Upon receipt of the approved bill list by the Finance Department, proper check entries shall be made on the cash disbursement ledger itself as to the date issued and the check number;

(15) At least quarterly, the Treasurer shall prepare a statement of statutory budget and ordinance appropriations, setting forth the amount appropriated, disbursed to date, unpaid or encumbered, and the resulting uncommitted balance.

D. Payroll account. There may be an account to be designated as the "Township of Montague payroll account," and from time to time the Treasurer shall, on receipt of a warrant or an amount due the payroll account, deposit it to the credit of the payroll account, charging the appropriate budgetary accounts therewith. Disbursement from the payroll account may be made by payroll checks signed by the Treasurer or, in his absence, by the Clerk upon preaudit by the Treasurer and approval by the Township Committee of the entire payroll. In case of error or adjustment in the payroll, the Treasurer shall make proper correction and appropriate record thereof.

E. Trust account.

(1) There is hereby created a fund or account to be known or designated as the "Montague Township trust account." Disbursements from said account may be made by checks signed by the Treasurer and countersigned by the Mayor and Clerk after approval by the Township Committee.

(2) Whenever any person, firm or corporation has agreed or is otherwise required to reimburse the Township of Montague for costs, expenses or fees of any kind or character, all sums paid by any such third person to the Township of Montague shall be deposited in the Montague Township trust account hereby established. Funds received from such persons may include such items as the costs of publishing any notice, ordinance or resolution; costs of mailing notices required pursuant to the provisions of any law or ordinance; legal fees of the Township Attorney incurred by reason of preparation of papers, ordinances, attendance at conferences or other services; the fees of the Township Engineer incurred by reason of making inspections required by the Township Committee, Planning Board or other official body or made pursuant to the provision of any ordinance or for the preparation of plans or other services required by the township; fees of the Township Planning Consultant for consultations or special planning work required in connection with any proposed development of land within the township; and the fees, expenses or charges or the estimated pro rata costs to the township for any services rendered by any township official or employee, all as directed by the Township Committee under circumstances where the township is entitled to be reimbursed for the costs, expenses and charges incurred by the township in connection therewith.

(3) The Township Committee shall, by resolution, detail the services to be performed by any of said township officials or employees and shall obtain an estimate of the costs of such services and of all other charges or costs which may be involved. Said resolution shall provide the sum which shall be deposited by the third person, firm or corporation as agreed with the Township Committee and all terms and conditions relating thereto. Said amount, upon receipt, shall be deposited in the trust account and shall be disbursed therefrom only as may be directed by the Township Committee.

(4) Upon deposit of said sum or sums as directed by the Township Committee in the trust account, limited to any budgetary restrictions imposed upon by the Bureau of Fiscal Management, Division of Local Government Services, Department of Community Affairs, the officers or employees of the township who have been so designated or directed may proceed to perform such services or incur such costs or expenses as may be necessary for the carrying out of the contemplated purposes; and thereafter, upon receipt of proper vouchers and approval by the Township Committee, the costs, expenses or fees for which vouchers have been submitted and approved shall be paid out of said trust account. Any funds remaining after the payment of all costs, expenses or fees in connection with any particular matter may be returned to the person, firm or corporation depositing said funds, and should there be insufficient funds in said trust account to pay all such expenses, charges or fees, the Township Treasurer shall immediately notify the depositor and require that additional funds sufficient to pay all such expenses, charges or fees be immediately deposited with the township.

§ 2-38 Division of Tax Collection.

A. Within the Department of Finance, there shall be a Division of Tax Collection, the head of which shall be the Tax Collector.

B. The Tax Collector shall possess all the powers and duties established by law. He shall enter in suitable books, to be kept for that purpose, the sums received by him each day for taxes, with the names of the persons on whose account the same have been paid; shall keep a record and account of the finances of the township; and shall, within 60 days after the end of the fiscal year or when otherwise required by the Township Committee, make and furnish a report thereof, with a detailed and true statement of all moneys received by him and disbursed therefrom and for what purposes, from the commencement of his official year to the date of his report or for such period as the Township Committee may require, and a list of delinquent taxpayers for the previous year. His report shall include a comparison table showing receipts for the same period for the prior years. He shall file the report with two copies of the statement and list of delinquents with the Clerk within the time hereinabove specified or when otherwise required by the Township Committee. He shall, as necessary and as directed, arrange for sales of real estate for delinquent taxes and shall submit a report of all tax sales to the Township Committee.

§ 2-39 Division of Tax Assessments.

A. Within the Department of Finance there shall be a Division of Tax Assessments, the head of which shall be the Tax Assessor. No person may be an Assessor unless he holds a Tax Assessor certificate.

B. A person reappointed to office, after receiving a Tax Assessor certificate, and thereafter serving in office for four consecutive years may be entitled to tenure where N.J.S.A. 54:1-35.31 applies.

C. The Tax Assessor shall:

(1) Perform and discharge all of the functions, powers and duties prescribed by law for a Municipal Assessor.

(2) Make assessments for benefits for local improvements and for that purpose have and exercise the powers and duties of a Board of Assessment for Local Improvement as provided by law.

(3) Maintain adequate assessment records of each separate parcel or real property assessed or exempted.

(4) Maintain a current Tax Map of the township as a public record and cause to be recorded thereon all changes in ownership or character of the real property assessed, employing for that purpose the facilities of other departments as provided by the code.

(5) Report to the Township Committee as to equalization proceedings and other matters involving the County Tax Board and make recommendations as to action to be taken in that regard.

§ 2-40 (RESERVED)

[Repealed 2-10-87 by Ord. No. 87-2]

§ 2-41 Tax and Assessment Searcher.

A Tax and Assessment Searcher may be appointed by the Township Committee. He shall furnish reports and certificates relating to property taxes and assessments in the township.