City of Danbury Charter - Chapter 7

CHAPTER VII. FINANCE AND TAXATION

Section 7-1 GENERAL FORM OF BUDGET PRESENTATION.
The Mayor shall require each Department, office or agency of the City supported wholly or in part by any funds, or for which a specific City appropriation is made, including the Board of Education, to set forth, in narrative or such other form as the Mayor may prescribe, a program or programs showing services, activities and work accomplished during the current year and to be accomplished during the ensuing year with associated costs thereof and such other detailed information as the Mayor may require. Themerit of a budget request shall stand the test of past and expected performance.

Section 7-2 DEPARTMENT ESTIMATES.
The Mayor shall compile preliminary estimates for the annual budget. The head of each department, office or agency of the City as described in Section 7-1 of this Chapter, including the Board of Education, shall, not later than February 15th or the next business day thereafter if February 15th shall not be a business day, file with the Mayor[,] on forms prescribed and provided by him, a detailed estimate of the expenditures to be made by the department, office or agency and the revenue other than tax revenues to be collected thereby in the ensuing fiscal year and such other information as may be required by the Mayor or the Common Council.

Section 7-3 DUTIES OF THE MAYOR ON THE BUDGET.
Not later than April 7th or the next business day thereafter if April 7th shall not be a business day, the Mayor shall present to the Common Council a budget consisting of:

a.   A budget message outlining the financial policy of the City government and describing in connection therewith the important features of the budget plan indicating any major changes from the current year in financial policies, expenditures and revenues together with the reasons for such changes, and containing a clear general summary of its contents.
b.   Estimates of revenue, presenting in parallel columns the itemized revenue collected in the last completed fiscal year, the receipts collected during the current fiscal year prior to the time of preparing the estimates, total revenue estimated to be collected during the current fiscal year, estimates of revenue, other than from the property tax, to be collected in the ensuing fiscal year, and a statement of an estimate of available surplus.
c.   Itemized estimates of expenditures, presenting in parallel columns the actual expenditures for each department, office[,] agency or activity for the last completed fiscal year and for the current fiscal year prior to the time of preparing the estimates, total expenditures as estimated for the current fiscal year, and the Mayor's recommendations of the amounts to be appropriated for the ensuing fiscal year for all items, and such other information as may be required by the Common Council. The Mayor shall present reasons for his recommendations.
d.   The Board of Education shall have the same duties and follow the same form and procedure with respect to the budget of the Board of Education as required of the Mayor in Section 7-2 of this Chapter for other departmental estimates.
e.   As part of the budget, the Mayor shall present a program, previously considered and acted upon by the City Planning Commission in accordance with Section 8-24 of the General Statutes, as amended, concerning municipal improvements, of proposed capital projects for the ensuing fiscal year and for the five fiscal years thereafter. Estimates of the costs of such projects shall be submitted to each department, office or agency annually in the form and manner prescribed by the Mayor. The Mayor shall recommend tothe Common Council those projects to be undertaken during the ensuing fiscal year and the method of financing the same.
f.   As part of the budget, the Mayor shall present to the Council the data required to be presented to the Mayor by Section 7-1.

Section 7-4 DUTIES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL ON THE BUDGET.
The Common Council shall hold one or more public hearings not later than May 1st or the next business day thereafter if May 1st shall not be business day, at which any elector or taxpayer may have an opportunity to be hear[d] regarding appropriations for the ensuing fiscal year. Following receipt of the estimates from the Mayor, the Council shall cause sufficient copies of said estimates to be made available for general distribution in the office of the City Clerk and, at least five (5) days prior to the aforementioned public hearing, the Council shall cause to be published in a newspaper having a circulation in the City a notice of such public hearing and a summary of said proposed budget estimates showing anticipated revenues by major sources, and proposed expenditures by budgets or departments in the same columnar form as prescribed for budget estimates in Section 7-3 of this Chapter, and shall also show the amounts to be raised by taxation. Not later than May 15th[,] or the next business day thereafter ifMay 15th shall not be a business day, the Council shall adopt a budget and file the same with the City Clerk; provided, however, if the Council shall insert new amounts or programs, increase, decrease or strike out amounts or programs in the budget such changes shall be adopted by an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds [( 2/3)] of all the members of the Council. The ordinance adopting the budget may provide for appropriations by department or function, and such appropriations need not be in greater detail than to indicate the total appropriation for each department or function. At the time when the Council shall adopt the budget, together with a provision for uncollectible taxes reserve, it shall also fix the tax rate in mills which shall be levied on the taxable property in the City for the ensuing fiscal year. Should the Council fail to adopt a budget within the time specified, the budget as transmitted by the Mayor, in accordance with the provisions of Section 7-3 of this Chapter[,] shall be deemed tohave been finally adopted by said Council. The tax rate shall forthwith be fixed by the Mayor and thereafter expenditures shall be made in accordance with the budget so adopted.

Section 7-5 EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS.
For the purpose of meeting a public emergency threatening the lives, health or property of citizens, emergency appropriations may be made upon the recommendation of the Mayor and by an affirmative vote of not less than two-thirds ( 2/3) of the entire membership of the Common Council, provided a public hearing, at which any elector or taxpayer of the City shall have an opportunity to be heard, shall be held prior to making such appropriation, notice of which hearing shall be given in a newspaper having circulation in the City not more than ten (10) nor less than five (5) days prior to such hearing. Such hearing and notice of hearing may be waived if the Council, by at least two-thirds ( 2/3) affirmative vote of its entire membership, shall decide that a delay in making the emergency appropriation would jeopardize the lives, health or property of citizens. In the absence of sufficient general fund resources to meet such appropriation, additional means of financing shall be provided in such manner, consistent with the provisions of the General Statutes and of this Charter, as may be determined by the Council.

Section 7-6 TAX BILLS AND USER CHARGES.
It shall be the duty of the Tax Collector to cause to be mailed to each taxpayer a tax bill prepared in accordance with the provisions of Section 12-130 and 12-131 of the General Statutes, as amended. The Tax Collector shall also cause to be mailed to each sewer and/or water user a rate-bill detailing the charges thereon.

Section 7-7 ASSESSMENT AND COLLECTION OF TAXES.
Except as specifically provided in this Charter, the assessment of property for taxation and the collection of taxes shall be carried on as provided in the General Statutes of the State.

Section 7-8 SEWER AND WATER ASSESSMENTS AND USER CHARGES.
All costs of operating the sewer system shall be raised and paid by user charges imposed on those property owners whose property is connected to said sewer system. Debt service and capital costs incurred in the expansion, renovation, and repair of the central sewer filtering plant, major trunk lines and pumping stations shall be included in the sewer system operating costs. Rates shall be established by standards contained in an ordinance enacted by the Common Council and in conformity with Chapter 103 of the General Statutes, as amended. All costs of extensions of new sewer services to a segment of the City, neighborhood, street or property through the construction of collector lines, lifting stations and/or laterals shall be borne by those whose property benefits by such extension project. Assessments of benefits for those whose property benefits by such extension project shall be established by standards contained in an ordinance enacted by the Common Council and in conformity with Chapter 103 of the General Statutes, as amended. All costs of operating the water system shall be raised and paid by user charges imposed on those property owners whose property is connected to said water system. Debt service and capital costs incurred in the expansion, renovation and repair of the water treatment plants, pressure tanks, distribution and transmission lines and pumping stations shall be included in the water system operating costs. Rates shall be established by standards contained in an ordinance enacted by the Common Council and in conformity with the General Statutes, as amended. All costs of extensions of new water service to a segment of the City, neighborhood, street or property through construction of distribution lines, pumping stations and/or laterals shall be borne by those property benefits by such extension project. Assessment of benefits for those whose property benefits by such extension project shall be established by standards contained in an ordinance enacted by the Common Council and in conformity with the General Statutes, as amended. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the City from pledging its full faith and credit to the payment of bonds or notes issued under the authority of the General Statutes for the acquisition, expansion, extension, construction or repair of all or any part of the municipal sewer system or the municipal water system.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the establishment by the Common Council of a Sewer Authority pursuant to Chapter 103 of the General Statutes, as amended.

Section 7-9 EXPENDITURES AND ACCOUNTING.

a.   No purchase shall be made by any department, agency, board, commission, or officer of the City other than the Probate Court, except through the Purchasing Agent. The Director of Finance shall have recorded the amount of authorized purchases and contracts for future purchases as encumbrances against the appropriation from which they are paid.
b.   No voucher, claim or charge against the City shall be paid until the same has been audited by the Director of Finance or agent of the Director and approved by the Director for correctness and validity. Payment of all approved claims shall be authorized by the Director of Finance which authorization shall be valid when countersigned by the Treasurer, provided, in the absence or inability to act of either the Director of Finance or Treasurer, the Mayor may be authorized to substitute temporarily for either orboth of them.
c.   The Director of Finance shall prescribe the time at which and the manner in which persons receiving money on account of the City shall pay the same to the Treasurer.
d.   The several departments, commissions, officers and boards of the City shall not involve the City in any obligation to spend money for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated therefor until the matter has been approved by the Common Council and each order drawn upon the Treasurer shall state the department, commission, board or officer and the appropriation against which it is to be charged.
e.   The Mayor may at any time transfer any unencumbered appropriation among programs within a department, office, board, commission or agency. Upon the request of the Mayor but only within the last four (4) months of the fiscal year the Common Council may by resolution transfer any unencumbered appropriation, balance or portion thereof from one department, commission, board or office to another. No transfer shall be made from any appropriation for debt service and other statutory charges.
f.   Additional appropriations over and above the total budget may be made from time to time by resolution of the Common Council, upon recommendation of the Mayor and certification from the Director of Finance that there are available unappropriated general fund resources in excess of the proposed additional appropriations.
g.   Appropriations for construction or for other permanent improvements, from whatever source derived, shall not lapse until the purpose for which the appropriation was made shall have been accomplished or abandoned, provided any such project shall be deemed to have been abandoned if three (3) fiscal years shall elapse without any expenditure from or any encumbrance or the appropriation therefor. Any portion of an annual appropriation remaining unexpended and unencumbered at the close of the budget year shall lapse.
h.   Every payment made in violation of the provisions of this Charter shall be deemed to be illegal and every official authorizing or making such payment or taking part therein and every person receiving such payment or any part thereof shall be jointly and severally liable to the City for the full amount so paid or received. If any officer or employee of the City shall knowingly incur any obligation or shall authorize or make any expenditure in violation of the provisions of this Charter or take any part therein, such action shall be cause for that person's removal.
i.   If at any time during the fiscal year the Mayor shall ascertain that revenues for the year and the general fund surplus from the preceding year will be less than the total of the appropriations, he shall revise work programs and allotments to forestall the incurring of a deficit. He shall report to the Common Council without delay, indicating the estimated amount of the deficit and his recommendations as to further action. The Council shall then take such action as may be necessary to prevent or reduce anydeficit and for that purpose it may, by resolution, reduce one or more appropriations.
j.   Whenever at the close of a fiscal year there shall appear a deficit in the current accounts of the City, it shall be mandatory to make an appropriation sufficient to cover such deficit in the next succeeding budget.

Section 7-10 BORROWING.

a.   The Common Council shall have power to authorize indebtedness by issuing bonds or notes as provided by the General Statutes subject to the limitations thereof and the provisions of this Section. The issuance of bonds and notes shall be authorized by ordinance adopted by the Common Council with the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds ( 2/3) of the entire membership of the Council. No bond shall be issued for a term longer than the estimated life of the improvement for which they are issued and in no event for a term longer than twenty years. Whenever the Common Council votes to issue bonds or notes in a principal amount in excess of $500,000.00, the ordinance authorizing such issues shall be submitted for approval or disapproval of the electors at the next municipal election or at a special City meeting called by the Mayor and warned for the specific purpose of voting on the question of such issue on the voting machines in the several voting districts.
b.   Bonds and Notes shall be authenticated by the seal of the City and the signature of the Mayor and the Treasurer. In the absence, incapacity or vacancy of the office off Treasurer, the Director of Finance is authorized to sign bonds.
c.   Subsection a. above notwithstanding, the Common Council may authorize, by ordinance, the issuance of notes or bonds for the payment of costs of extensions of new sewer service and new water service as provided in Section 7-8, subject to limitations imposed by the General Statutes which ordinance is subject to Section 3-9 of this Charter. Payment of said bonds and notes including debt service thereon shall be made by assessments of benefits on the properties benefitted by said extensions of new water and newsewer service as set forth in Section 7-8. Said bonds may be issued for term not to exceed twenty (20) years. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent the City from pledging its full faith and credit to the payment of said bonds and notes.