Township of Springfield, NJ Article IV Township Manager

§ 5-16 Appointment and compensation.

The Township Manager shall be appointed and may be removed as provided by law.[1] The Manager shall receive compensation as provided by ordinance, payable as other municipal salaries are paid unless and until otherwise provided by ordinance. The Manager may designate a qualified administrative officer of the municipality to perform the duties of Manager during any temporary absence or disability. In the event of the failure of the Manager to make the designation, the Council may by resolution appoint an administrative officer of the municipality to perform the duties of the Manager during the absence or disability until the Manager shall return or the disability shall cease.

[1] N.J.S.A. 40:69A-1 et seq.

§ 5-17 General powers and duties.

The Manager shall be the Chief Executive and Administrative Officer of the municipality. The Manager shall see that all ordinances, resolutions and policies of the Council, and all state laws subject to enforcement by municipal action, are faithfully enforced and executed. The Manager shall:

A. Represent the municipality and assert its proper interests in relation to the state and other political subdivisions, and with respect to municipal contracts and franchises.

B. Attend all meetings of the Council with the right to take part in the discussions, but without the right to vote.

C. Keep the Council advised of the financial condition of the municipality, make reports to the Council as requested by it, and at least once a year make an annual report on the administration of the municipal government for the benefit of the Council and the public.

D. Study the governmental and administrative operations and needs of the municipal government, and prepare and recommend to the Council necessary and desirable plans and programs to meet present and foreseeable needs.

E. Investigate at any time the affairs of any officer or department of the municipality.

F. Perform such other duties as may be required of the Township Manager by ordinance or resolution of the Municipal Council.

§ 5-18 Administrative supervision and direction.

The Manager shall:

A. Direct and supervise the administration of all departments of the municipal government and be responsible for the maintenance of sound personnel policies and administrative practices.

B. Approve all bills and vouchers for payment subject to preaudit and control as provided herein.

C. Maintain a continuing review and analysis of budget operations, work programs, and costs of municipal services.

D. Establish working, personnel, vacation and sick leave schedules and appropriate records and reports.

E. Approve or prescribe the internal organization of each department.

F. Assign and transfer administrative functions, powers and duties among and within departments, subject to the Charter and Administrative Code.

G. Delegate to department heads such powers as the Manager may deem necessary for efficient administration.

§ 5-19 Personnel and appointments.

The Manager shall:

A. Serve as the personnel officer of the municipality unless and until the Council shall, upon the recommendation of the Manager, authorize the appointment of a personnel officer.

B. Appoint and remove a Deputy Manager if one be authorized by the Council, all department heads and all other officers, subordinates and assistants, other than the Township Clerk, Township Attorney, Assistant Township Attorneys, Prosecutor, Public Defender, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Agricultural Advisory Board and other advisory boards, for whose appointment other provision is made by the Charter, Administrative Code, ordinance or resolution of the Council. The Manager may delegate to the head of a department the power to appoint and remove subordinates in such departments, supervise and control all appointees, and report all appointments or removals at the next meeting thereafter of the Township Council. Pursuant to the Charter, any provision of general law conferring the appointing power or other power upon the Mayor or other executive head of the municipality shall be construed as meaning the municipal or Township Manager, and the appointments or the power exercised by the Township Manager in accordance with such provision shall be classified and given the same force and effect as if executed by the official named therein. As provided by law, the power to appoint the Township professionals and the Clerk, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Tax Collector, Assessor, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Agricultural Advisory Board and other positions where the appointive power is not specifically vested in the Manager, and to enter into professional service agreements is reserved to the Township Council and are not within the authority of the Manager.

§ 5-20 Terms of office.

Except where otherwise expressly required by the Charter or general law, department heads and subordinate officers and employees subject to appointment by the Manager shall be appointed for an indefinite term subject to suspension or removal by the Manager.

§ 5-21 Powers and duties of department heads.

The head of a department, subject to the Charter and Administrative Code and the approval or direction of the Manager, shall:

A. Prescribe the internal organization of the work of the department.

B. Direct and supervise the subordinate officers and employees of the department and make, alter and enforce individual work assignments.

C. Approve and disapprove payrolls, bills and claims chargeable to the departmental appropriations.

D. Maintain records of work performance and unit costs thereof as may be approved or required by the Manager.

E. Provide information and reports on the work of the department as may from time to time be required by the Manager.

F. Exercise such other powers of administrative supervision and direction as the Manager may delegate.

§ 5-22 Purchasing.

All materials, supplies and equipment, work and labor under contract required by any department, office or agency of the municipality shall be purchased by, or under the direction of, the Manager.

A. Purchasing agent. The Manager may designate an administrative officer of the municipality to serve as purchasing agent.

B. Purchase controls. Purchases shall be authorized only upon requisition of a department head which shall be made to the Manager at the time and in the form as fixed by the Manager. All purchases made and contracts awarded for any supplies, materials or equipment or contractual services shall be pursuant to a written requisition from the head of the department against which the appropriation will be charged and the certification of the Treasurer that a sufficient balance of appropriation is available to pay for it. All purchase contracts shall conform with requirements of law. Except as the Manager may specifically authorize in case of emergency, no purchase shall be made and no bill, claim or voucher shall be approved unless the procedures required by law have been followed. The Manager may, in cases where competitive bidding is not required, submit a proposed purchase to competitive bidding, open the bids obtained, and award contracts.

C. Award of contracts; execution. Where contracts are by law required to be awarded in accordance with competitive public bidding, the Council may upon recommendation of the Manager with respect to all contracts other than contracts the specifications for which have been prepared by the Township Engineer, and upon recommendation of the Township Engineer with respect to such contracts, award the contract in the manner prescribed by law. The Mayor, or the Deputy Mayor in the absence or inability of the Mayor, shall execute and sign contracts authorized by law, and their respective signatures shall be attested by the Clerk.

D. Standards and tests. The purchasing agent shall establish and approve uniform standards for requisitions and purchases; shall control the delivery of all supplies, materials and equipment and other items purchased and shall make or cause to be made proper test checks and inspections thereof. The purchasing agent shall ascertain whether the supplies, materials, equipment and other items purchased comply with the specifications and shall cause laboratory or other tests to be made whenever in his or her opinion it is necessary to determine whether the materials or supplies furnished are of the quality and standard required, and shall accept or reject the deliveries in accordance with the results of the inspection.

E. Storerooms. The purchasing agent shall control any general storerooms or stock rooms which the Council may authorize and may make transfers of supplies, material and equipment between departments, officers and agencies; sell surplus, obsolete, unused or waste supplies, material and equipment; and make any other sales authorized by the Council.

§ 5-23 Budget.

A. Budget preparation. The municipal budget shall be prepared by the Township Manager. During the month of November in each year, the Township Manager shall require all department heads to submit requests for appropriations for the ensuing budget year and to appear before him at public hearings, which shall be held on dates and at times approved by the Township Council, on the various requests.

B. Budget document. Upon the basis of the items specified by the Council for inclusion in the budget, departmental requests, the budget hearings, an analysis of the needs and resources of the municipality, and such policy guides as shall be prescribed by resolution of the Council, the Manager shall prepare a recommended budget in the form required by law. On or before January 15 in each year, the Manager shall present to the Council the budget document consisting of:

(1) The recommended budget; and

(2) A budget message.

C. Budget message. The budget message shall consist of those explanatory comments, exhibits, and schedules concerning the budget as the Manager may deem desirable, together with:

(1) An outline of the proposed financial policies for the ensuing budget year, including explanations of the important features of the budget and of any major changes in policy.

(2) An analysis of revenue and costs, and of work performance contemplated by the budget so far as appropriate units of measurement may have been developed and installed.

(3) A statement of pending capital projects and proposed new capital projects, relating the amounts required for capital purposes to the down payments and other expenditures financed from current appropriations and to the amount bonds to be issued during the budget year.

(4) A capital program of proposed capital projects for the budget year and the next five years, which may be prepared by the Municipal Planning Board, together with comments thereon and an estimate of cost.

D. Budget operation. The Manager shall control the expenditure program of each department through the application of work programs and periodic allotments of budgeted appropriations. No department shall incur any expenditure in excess of the amount allotted. Whenever it shall appear to the Manager that the amount appropriated for any department, or for any purpose within a department, is in excess of the amount required to be expended to provide the quantity and quality of services authorized by the budget, the Manager may, by administrative order, with the approval of the Council, reduce the amount available for expenditure by any department during the remainder of any year. If at any time during the budget year the Manager shall ascertain that the Township government is faced with the probability of incurring a cash deficit for the current year, the Manager shall reconsider the work programs and allotments of the several departments. Upon that reconsideration, the Manager may by administrative order, with the approval of the Council, revise budget allotments so as to forestall, so far as possible, the making of commitments and expenditures in excess of the revenues to be realized during the fiscal year.