[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Palisades
Park 7-8-1976 as Section 2-16 of the Revised General Ordinances
of 1975; amended in its entirety 5-20-2003 by Ord.
No. 1417. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The Borough of Palisades Park, by its governing body, shall not pay
out any of its money;
A.
Unless the person claiming or receiving the same shall
first present a detailed bill of times or demand, specifying particularly
how the bill or demand is made up, with the certification of the party claiming
payment that it is correct. The governing body may, by resolution, require
an affidavit in lieu of the said certification, and the clerk or disbursing
officer of the local unit may take such affidavit without cost.
B.
Unless it carries a written order or electronic certification
of some officer or duly designated employee of the local unit having knowledge
of the facts that the goods have been received by, or the services rendered
to, the local unit.
C.
Notwithstanding the provisions of the Subsection A of this section, upon adoption by the Local Finance Board of rules adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, P.L. 1968, c. 410 (N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq.) that provides for procedures to be followed by local units and under those circumstances deemed appropriate by the Board, the Borough shall be permitted to pay out its moneys without requiring a certification of the party claiming payment as otherwise required by Subsection A of this section. Such circumstances may include, but shall not be limited to:
(1)
When payment to vendors is required in advance of the
delivery of certain materials or services that cannot be obtained from any
other source at comparable prices; or
(2)
When ordering, billing and payment transactions for goods
or services are made through a computerized electronic transaction; or
(3)
When claim or demand is less than a threshold set by
the Board and the certification is not readily obtainable by the Borough;
but such exceptions shall not include reimbursement of employee expenses or
payment for personal service.
Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:5-16.1, the Borough may,
by resolution, provide for and authorize payment of advances to officers and
employees of the local unit toward their expenses for authorized official
travel and expenses incident thereto. Any such resolution shall provide for
the verification and adjustment of such expenses and advances and the repayment
of any excess advanced by means of detailed bill of items or demand and the
certifications or affidavit required by N.J.S.A. 40A:5-16 which shall be submitted
within 10 days after the completion of the travel for which an advance was
made.
Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:5-16.2, the Borough may,
by resolution, provide for and authorize payment of an advance to any nonprofit
organization or agency with which the Borough has entered into a service contract,
for the purpose of meeting service program start-up costs; provided, however,
that:
A.
The source of the funds to be advanced is a federal grant
allowing the local unit to receive funds in advance of disbursement and requiring
that any interest earned on said funds be returned to the federal government;
B.
The governing body has determined, by resolution, that
the advance is necessary in order to prevent undue hardship to said contractor
in achieving the objectives of the federal grant;
C.
The amount of the advance to any given contractor does
not exceed an amount equal to the total amount of the contract divided by
the number of months in the term of the contract, and provided further that
the total disbursements of the Borough to the contractor, including the amount
of the advance outstanding, shall not, at any time, exceed the total cash
receipt of the local unit under the federal grant up to that time; and,
D.
The resolution authorizing the advance includes a schedule
for the depletion of the advance, in accordance with sound accounting practice,
indicating that the advance will be entirely depleted by the termination date
of the contract.
Notwithstanding the provision of N.J.S.A. 40A:5-16, the governing body
participating in a statutorily authorized joint, interlocal or other cooperative
activity may, by resolution, provide for and authorize payment in advance
of estimated administrative or direct service costs to the local unit or other
party providing administrative services or otherwise acting on behalf of or
for the group.
The governing body shall approve or disapprove all claims.
A.
The governing body does hereby designate the Chief Financial
Officer and determines him to be the certifying and approval officer. The
Chief Financial Officer shall accept certifications required by N.J.S.A. 40A:5-16b,
ascertaining the existence of proper and legal appropriations for the payments
to be made and determining that there is legal authority for the payments,
evidenced by action of a purchasing department or agent or officer in respect
to the goods or services ordered and the incurring of the expense therefor.
B.
The Chief Financial Officer shall provide for the approving
and certifying of the proper officer claims for payments and drawing checks
therefor.
C.
The Chief Financial Officer shall prescribed for certifying
approved claims to the governing body and regulating its approval or disapproval
thereon.
Agreement of claim shall be made by checks drawn on the municipality
signed by the Mayor and the Municipal Clerk and countersigned by the Chief
Financial Officer.
The Chief Financial Officer shall keep general books of account for
the municipality and shall maintain same.
The Chief Financial Officer shall have the authority to process without
further action on the part of the governing body the cancellation of any property
tax refund or delinquency of less than $10.
All claims approved for payment shall be recorded in the minutes of
the governing body, and such approval shall be opened to the public. Prior
to the presentation to the governing body of a claim's list, the Chief
Financial Officer shall certify that there are funds available for said payment
and that there is legal authority for the payments evidenced by action of
the purchasing department or agent or officer in respect to the goods or services
ordered and the incurring of the expense therefor.
The Borough shall pay salaries, wages or other compensation for services
in the same manner as for checks drawn upon the municipality and signed for
that purpose. The Borough shall pay biweekly all salaries, wages and compensation
of officers and employees, both elective and appointive.
A.
Whenever an official ceases to hold office in the Borough,
on the day of the expiration of his term of office, he shall forthwith deliver
to the Chief Financial Officer all moneys, papers, books, memoranda, accounts
and any data of any nature whatever pertaining to his office.
B.
On refusal to carry out the provisions of this section
within five days after the expiration of his term, he shall, on notice in
writing of such delinquency from the Mayor, be subject to a penalty of 50
days for each day of refusal or neglect to comply therewith.
Certain petty cash funds may be established by the Borough after approval
by the Director of the Department of Community Affairs.
