CITY CHARTER - 2023 Website Version American Legal

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Section 7.06. Council Action on Budget. Subdivision 1. The Council shall annually adopt a budget calendar by June 1. The calendar will establish the time line for development and submission of the budget and allow for public review and comment in accordance with this Charter, the Council, and Minnesota Statutes, section 275.065, as amended. The budget shall be considered at the first regular monthly meeting of the Council in September and at subsequent meetings until a budget is adopted for the ensuing year. The budget calendar will provide a thirty (30)-day period for public review and input to the annual budget prior to final approval by the Council. The meetings shall be so conducted as to give interested citizens a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The Council may revise the proposed budget but no amendment to the budget shall increase the authorized expenditures to an amount greater than the sum of estimated income and reserves. The Council shall adopt the budget by a resolution that shall set forth the total for each budgeted fund and each department. The budget shall indicate the sums to be raised and from what sources and the sums to be spent and for what purpose as the Council deems necessary for establishing the budget. The Council shall also adopt a resolution levying the amount of taxes provided in the budget, and the city administrator shall certify the tax resolution to the county auditor in accordance with state law. Adoption of the budget resolution shall constitute appropriations at the beginning of the fiscal year of the sums fixed in the resolution of the several purposes named. (Amended 2010 Ord. 841; Amended 2023 Ord. 1009.) Subdivision 2. As specified by Minnesota Statutes, section 275.065, as amended, before the budget is adopted for the ensuing fiscal year, a public hearing notice and summary of the proposed budget will be published in the official City newspaper, the City newsletter, and, if available, the City web-site. Such summary should be readily understandable by the layperson, and should provide appropriate supporting information as to the necessity for any increase in the budget over the total for the current fiscal year. Failure to provide the specified summary will not invalidate the budget. The final budget will be published in accordance with Minnesota statutes on truth in taxation or no later than sixty (60) days after adoption by the Council in the official City newspaper, the City newsletter and, if available, the City web-site. (Amended 2023 Ord. 1009.) Subdivision 3. If the Council fails to adopt the budget by the beginning of the next fiscal year, the preceding months fiscal year budget shall go into effect for up to thirty-one (31) days or until the Council adopts a budget. Section 7.07. Enforcement of the Budget. The city administrator may designate department heads or other staff who may assist with each fund or department in the annual budget. It shall be the duty of the city administrator to strictly enforce the detail provisions of the budget. The Council shall strictly enforce the provisions of the budget. The Council shall not authorize any payment or the incurring of any obligation by the City, unless an appropriation has been made in the budget resolution, and there is a sufficient unexpended balance after deducting the total past expenditures and encumbrances against the appropriation. No officer or employee of the City shall place any order or make any purchase unless the amount is authorized in the budget resolution and in compliance with the purchasing policies of the City as established by the Council, the Charter, the City Code, and Minnesota statutes. Any obligation incurred by any person in the employ of the City for any purpose not authorized in the budget resolution, or for any amount in excess of the amount authorized, shall be a personal obligation upon the person incurring the obligation. No check shall be issued or transfer made to any account other than one owned by the City until the claim to which it relates has been supported by an itemized bill, payroll, or time sheet or other document approved and signed by the responsible City officer who vouches for its correctness and reasonableness. (Amended 2010 Ord. 841; Amended 2023 Ord. 1009.) Section 7.08. Alterations in the Budget. After the budget resolution has been adopted, the Council may amend the budget by resolution, but shall not increase the amounts fixed in the resolution beyond the sum of estimated receipts and reserves, except to the extent that actual receipts exceed the estimate or to implement Section 7.12 herein. At any time the Council may by resolution reduce the