The fiscal year of the Town government shall begin the first day of July and end on the 30th day of June in the following year, or such other fiscal year as the Council may decide. Such fiscal year shall constitute the budget and accounting year as used in this Charter.
The budget shall have three divisions, the municipal budget, the education budget and the proprietary budget. Each shall include all proposed expenditures thereunder, except for state and federal grants. For the ensuing fiscal year, Town Meeting shall make a single appropriation for the municipal budget. Appropriations for the education budget shall be made as required by state law. The capital improvement program of both the municipality and school shall be included within the municipal budget.
The operating budget shall be defined as the entire budget of the Town, including the municipal budget and the education budget. The operating budget does not include the capital improvement program or any proprietary budgets. The operating budget shall contain the following:
A. 
Introduction. The Town Manager's budget message, along with a summary of the budget prepared in such manner as to present to the taxpayers a simple and clear synopsis of the detailed estimates of the budget. It need not be itemized further than by principal sources of anticipated revenue, stating separately the amount to be raised by property taxes, and shall also contain itemized expenditures by department;
B. 
Revenues. A statement of taxes required, an itemized statement of estimated revenue from all other sources, and comparative figures from the current and previous year;
C. 
Expenditures. An itemized statement of appropriations recommended for the coming year with comparative statements in parallel columns of estimated expenditures for the current year and actual expenditures for the previous fiscal year (an unusual increase or decrease in any item shall be indicated and explained);
D. 
Other. Such other information as may be required by the Town Council.
A. 
The capital improvement program (CIP) shall be defined as a program consisting of municipal and education expenditures, any one of which costs more than $5,000 and meets one or more of the following requirements:
(1) 
Construction time extends to two or more fiscal years;
(2) 
Includes planning for, construction of or major renovation of a Town building, wharf, public way, sewer, drain or appurtenant equipment; or
(3) 
Replacement or acquisition of equipment with a life expectancy of five years or longer.
(4) 
Such other reserve accounts as the Town Council directs.
B. 
CIP purpose. The purpose of the CIP is to plan the Town's capital investment needs over the ensuing five-year period. The Town should seek to avoid financing costs by setting aside funds in advance of their need, except for major capital items with life expectancies in excess of 10 years.
C. 
CIP contents. The capital improvement program shall include:
(1) 
A clear summary of its contents;
(2) 
A list of all capital improvements which are proposed for the municipal and education budget divisions during the five next fiscal years, with proper supporting information as to the necessities for such improvements;
(3) 
Cost estimates, methods of financing and recommended time schedules of such improvements;
(4) 
The estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining the facilities to be constructed or acquired, if any.
D. 
CIP revision. The above information shall be revised and extended each year with regard to capital improvements still pending or in process of construction or acquisition. The current year's portion of the five-year capital improvement budget as approved by the Council shall be included as an item within the municipal budget presented to the Warrant Committee and to each Annual Town Meeting. The capital improvement program shall be printed in the Town's Annual Report.
E. 
CIP appropriations. CIP appropriations approved by the Town shall be continuing appropriations which do not lapse at the end of the fiscal year but continue into the next fiscal year.
The proprietary budget shall include all proprietary and enterprise funds of the Town, including the sewer budget, water budget and the budgets for any other revenue producing municipal facility as defined by M.R.S.A. Title 30-A, Chapter 213, the Revenue Producing Municipal Facilities Act. The Town Council shall adopt proprietary budgets, fees and charges by ordinance.
[Amended 11-3-2020]
The municipal and education divisions of the budget shall be prepared and submitted according to the following procedure:
A. 
Departmental CIP and operating budget requests shall be prepared according to a timeline set by the Town Manager to allow for submission of the budget by the last Tuesday in January each year. Budget submissions shall be in accordance with the provisions set forth in § C-29 and § C-30.
B. 
School Committee budget request. Fourteen days before the Town Manager is required to submit the budget to the Town Council, the School Committee shall submit its operating budget and CIP funding requests to the Town Manager. Said requests shall include the information required in § C-30C(2) through (4), as well as § C-29B through D.
C. 
Submittal of budget to the Council and Warrant Committee. The Town Manager shall compile the budget information submitted, prepare the budget as provided in this section, and submit the operating budget and CIP to a joint meeting of the Town Council and Warrant Committee on or before the last Tuesday in January each year. The Town Warrant Committee and Town Council shall then jointly meet with Town staff for detailed presentation of the municipal budget by Town staff before proceeding to independent review.
D. 
Warrant Committee and Town Council Review. The Warrant Committee shall review the municipal budget and submit its recommendations to the Council at a joint meeting of those bodies on or before the fourth Tuesday in February. The Council shall review the municipal and school budgets and the recommendations of the Warrant Committee.
E. 
Tentative adoption of budget by Council. The proposed budget as presented and reviewed shall be tentatively adopted by the Council with or without amendments on or before the first Tuesday of March of each calendar year and Council shall fix a time and a place for holding a public hearing on the budget prior to the fourth Tuesday of March of each calendar year.
F. 
Notice of hearing. The Town Clerk shall give public notice of such hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town. Said notice shall contain as a minimum the date, time and place of the meeting, the locations where copies of the budget may be reviewed, the total appropriations requested for both the municipal and education budgets and an estimate of the effect on the tax rate. Full copies of the detailed budget shall be made available for public review at the office of the Town Clerk.
G. 
Adoption of budget by Council. The Town Council shall hear public comment at the budget hearing, review the budget, adopt it with or without change and recommend it to Town Meeting on or before the fourth Tuesday in March.
H. 
The recommendations of the Warrant Committee pertaining to the municipal budget shall be provided to the Town Meeting as set forth in § C-5C(1)(a) and (2)(b).
The Town Manager may transfer any unencumbered appropriation balance or portion thereof from line item to line item within departments but may not expend funds in excess of the department appropriation. The Council may, by resolution, transfer any unencumbered appropriation balance or portion thereof between departments.
The accounting terms used herein shall be interpreted as defined in the latest edition of Governmental Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting published by the Government Finance Officers Association.