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CITY OF BOSTON CODE OF ORDINANCES
THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF BOSTON
CHAPTER I: GENERAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER II: FORM OF GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER III: ACQUISITION AND DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY
CHAPTER IV: CONTRACTS
CHAPTER V: ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER VI: GENERAL SERVICES
CHAPTER VII: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
CHAPTER VIII: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER IX: BUILDING REGULATIONS
CHAPTER X: HOUSING SERVICES
CHAPTER XI: PUBLIC SERVICES
CHAPTER XII: PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER XIII: NATURAL GAS
CHAPTER XIV: LICENSING AND CONSUMER BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND OFFICERS
CHAPTER XV: DIVISIONS OF THE MAYOR’S OFFICE
CHAPTER XVI: PROHIBITIONS, PENALTIES AND PERMITS
CHAPTER XVII: LICENSES AND REGULATIONS AFFECTING CERTAIN TRADES
CHAPTER XVIII: FEES AND CHARGES
CHAPTER XIX: SCHOOLS
CHAPTER XX: CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS
CHAPTER XXI: MISCELLANEOUS PUBLIC BUILDINGS
CHAPTER XXII: SUFFOLK COUNTY
CHAPTER XXIII: TRASH AND REFUSE DISPOSAL
CHAPTER XXIV: BOSTON JOBS, LIVING WAGE AND PREVAILING WAGE ORDINANCE
PARALLEL REFERENCES
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SECTION 41.   Civil Service Laws not to Apply to Certain Appointments.
   The civil service laws shall not apply to the appointment of the mayor’s secretaries, nor of the stenographers, clerks, telephone operators and messengers connected with his office, and the mayor may remove such appointees without a hearing and without making a statement of the cause for their removal.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 15]
SECTION 42.   Expenditures Not to Exceed Appropriation.
   No official of said city, except in case of extreme emergency involving the health or safety of the people or their property, shall expend intentionally in any fiscal year any sum in excess of the appropriations duly made in accordance with law, nor involve the city in any contract for the future payment of money in excess of such appropriation, except as provided in section [17G] of this act. Any official who violates the provisions of this section shall be personally liable to the city for any amounts expended intentionally in excess of an appropriation to the extent the city does not recover such amounts from the person to whom paid. The trial court of the commonwealth or a single justice of the supreme judicial court shall have jurisdiction to adjudicate claims brought by the city hereunder and to order such equitable relief as the court may find appropriate to prevent further violations of this section. Any official who shall violate the provisions of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or both. [Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 16, amended by Acts of 1982, c. 190, s. 17]
SECTION 42A.   Contracting without an Appropriation.
   Anything in section [forty-nine] or section [forty-two] to the contrary notwithstanding, city and county officers who are authorized to make expenditures, and the school committee, may, during any fiscal year, at the time of, or after, contracting for the performance or delivery during the remainder of such year of any work, services or supplies of a constantly recurrent nature, contract, without an appropriation, upon like or more favorable terms and conditions, for the performance or delivery of such work, services or supplies for the whole or any part of the first three months of the next fiscal year; provided, that in no event shall the average monthly liability incurred with respect to the next fiscal year exceed the average monthly liability for such work, services or supplies during the last nine months of the then current fiscal year.
[Acts of 1948, c. 452, s. 16A, amended by Acts of 1951, c. 182]
THE FINANCE COMMISSION.
SECTION 43.   Appointment of a Finance Commission.
   Within sixty days after the passage of this act the governor with the advice and consent of the [governor’s] council shall appoint a finance commission to consist of five persons, inhabitants of and qualified voters in the city of Boston, who shall have been such for at least three years prior to the date of their appointment, one for the term of five years, one for four years, one for three years, one for two years, and one for one year, and thereafter as the terms of office expire in each year one member for a term of five years. Vacancies in the commission shall be filled for the unexpired term by the governor with the advice and consent of the council. The members of said commission may be removed by the governor with the advice and consent of the council for such cause as he shall deem sufficient. The chairman shall be designated by the governor. His annual salary ... shall be paid in monthly installments by the city of Boston. The other members shall serve without pay.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 17; but see Acts of 1964, c. 740, s. 3]
Editor’s note:
   “Subject to section two of this act and except as required by the constitution of the commonwealth, so much of each provision of the General Laws and of any special law as requires the advice and consent of the council to any appointment in the executive department, or to the fixing of any salary, or other compensation for services rendered, in the executive department, or to the removal of any person holding office in the executive department, including without limitation, any person appointed prior to the effective date of this act, is hereby repealed.” [Acts of 1964, c. 740, s. 3]
SECTION 44.    Duty to Investigate.
   It shall be the duty of the finance commission from time to time to investigate any and all matters relating to appropriations, loans, expenditures, accounts, and methods of administration affecting the city of Boston or the county of Suffolk, or any department thereof, that may appear to the commission to require investigation, and to report thereon from time to time to the mayor, the city council, the governor, or the general court. The commission shall make an annual report in January of each year to the general court.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 18]
SECTION 45.   Investigation of Pay Rolls, Bills, etc.
   Whenever any pay roll, bill, or other claim against the city is presented to the mayor, city auditor, or the city treasurer, he shall, if the same seems to him to be of doubtful validity, excessive in amount, or otherwise contrary to the city’s interest, refer it to the finance commission, which shall immediately investigate the facts and report thereon; and pending said report payment shall be withheld.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 19]
SECTION 46.   Employment of Experts.
   The said commission is authorized to employ such experts, counsel, and other assistants, and to incur such other expenses as it may deem necessary, and the same shall be paid by said city upon requisition by the commission, not exceeding in the aggregate in any year the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, or such additional sums as may be appropriated for the purpose by the city council, and approved by the mayor. A sum sufficient to cover the salary of the chairman of the commission and the further sum of at least twenty-five thousand dollars to meet the expenses as aforesaid shall be appropriated each year by said city. The commission shall have the same right to incur expenses in anticipation of its appropriation as if it were a regular department of said city.
[Acts of 1909, c. 486, s. 20]
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