Town of East Hampton, CT Article III Budget Process; Unexpended Balances; Payment of Claims

[Adopted by the Board of Selectmen 9-26-1989]

§ 45-4 Estimates of receipts and expenditures.

At such time or times as the Town Manager shall prescribe, each department, office, board, commission, committee and agency of the Town, except the Board of Education, shall submit on forms prescribed by him its estimates of receipts and expenditures for the ensuing fiscal year.

§ 45-5 Submission of proposed budget by Town Manager.

[Amended 12-13-2016]

At such time or times as the Board of Finance shall prescribe, the Town Manager shall present to the Board a proposed budget consisting of the total expenditures and revenues estimated for the ensuing fiscal year and recommendations thereon along with the proposed budget of the Board of Education as submitted by the Board of Education. The Town Government budget as presented by the Town Manager shall include the annual appropriation to the capital reserve fund, debt service payments, and transfers to other funds for noneducation purposes.

§ 45-6 Submission of proposed budget by Board of Finance.

Upon receipt of, and consideration of, the Town Council's policy statement, the Board of Finance shall prepare a proposed Town budget as prescribed in Section 5.2 of the East Hampton Town Charter as amended.

§ 45-7 Disposition of unexpended balances.

During the last month of the fiscal year, upon recommendation of the Board of Finance as required by C.G.S. § 7-347, the Town Council may make transfers in the adopted operating budget, except the Board of Education budget, from unexpended or unencumbered appropriations in one department to another for the purpose of balancing accounts to close out the fiscal year.

§ 45-8 Lapse of noncapital appropriations.

Noncapital appropriations shall lapse at the end of the fiscal year for which they were made, and any balance credited to the General Fund. An appropriation for a capital outlay shall not lapse, but shall continue from fiscal year to fiscal year until the object for which the appropriation was made has been accomplished. If no expenditure for, or encumbrance of, the capital outlay has been made after three consecutive fiscal years, the Town Council may cancel said appropriation upon the recommendation of the Board of Finance and transfer same to another capital outlay or to the capital reserve fund or a sinking fund for a future capital outlay. All interest earned by the capital reserve fund shall remain in the fund in a contingency line item until it is reallocated by the Town Council, upon recommendation of the Board of Finance, to another capital outlay.

§ 45-9 Payment of claims.

No payroll, bill or other claim against the Town, except those of the Board of Education, shall be paid until the same has been audited and endorsed for correctness, legality and payment by the Town Manager or an officer so designated by him. All payments shall be by check drawn on a Town bank account bearing the signature of the Town Manager and the Director of Finance. In the absence of the Town Manager or Director of Finance, the Controller, Assistant to the Manager or Town Clerk may substitute for either, but not both, with the approval of the Town Council, the intention being that all checks must be signed by two separate persons. All payroll, bills, or other claims against the Board of Education shall be audited by said Board and signed by a member or members of the Board so designated and countersigned by the Town Manager or the Director of Finance.