(a) General Provisions. The general laws of the State of Ohio relating generally to budgets, appropriations, deposits, expenditures, debts, bonds, contracts and other fiscal matters of municipalities shall be applicable to the City, except as modified by or inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter.
(Adopted October 18, 1966)
(b) Annual Estimate. The fiscal year of this City shall, unless Council by proper action adopts a different date, be the same as that established from time to time for cities by the general laws of the State of Ohio.
The Mayor, with the assistance of the Director of Finance shall prepare and submit to the Council an estimate of the revenues and expenditures of the municipality for the next succeeding fiscal year. This estimate shall be compiled from information which shall be furnished by the head of each department, division, board or commission in such form and detail as the Mayor may reasonably require.
Not less than thirty (30) days before the end of each fiscal year, the Mayor, with the assistance of the Director of Finance, shall prepare and submit to the Council an estimate of the revenues and expenditures of the Municipality for the next succeeding fiscal year. This estimate shall be compiled from information which shall be furnished by the head of each department, division, board or commission in such form and detail as the Mayor may reasonably require.
The estimate shall give the following information:
(1) An estimate of the anticipated revenue from each source during the next succeeding fiscal year, with a comparative statement of the amount received from such source during the preceding two (2) years and the current year, plus an estimate of such amounts for the remainder of the current year, which estimates he shall receive from the Director of Finance.
(2) An estimate of the expense of conducting each department and activity of the City for the next succeeding fiscal year, together with comparative statements as provided in the next preceding paragraph, with reasons for increases or decreases.
(3) The amount of the total and net debt of the City, together with a schedule of maturities of outstanding bonds and notes, which he shall receive from the Director of Finance.
(4) An estimate of the value of supplies and materials on hand at the date of preparation of the estimate.
(5) A statement of the unencumbered balance in each bond and improvement fund, which he shall receive from the Director of Finance.
(Amended November 8, 1983; November 6, 2007)
(c) Appropriation Ordinance. The Director of Finance shall furnish to the Council an appropriation ordinance, making appropriations for the expenditures of the City during the year covered by the aforementioned annual estimate. The Council shall adopt such ordinance in its original form, or with such revision as it may find proper, within such time as is fixed by the general laws of the State of Ohio, or, in case no such time is fixed, within ninety (90) days after the beginning of the fiscal year covered by such ordinance.
Such appropriation ordinance shall be in such form and detail as may be required by the general laws of the State of Ohio, and may be amended or supplemented by the Council after its passage, but appropriations shall not be made in excess of the estimated revenues of the City.
The Council may make preliminary appropriations for current expenses sufficient in amount to meet the current needs until the annual appropriation ordinance has been enacted and is in effect. The passage of any ordinance authorizing the issue or sale of bonds or notes of the City shall constitute an appropriation of the proceeds thereof to the purposes for which said bonds or notes are issued.
(d) Transfers and Balances. The Council may transfer any part of an unencumbered balance of an appropriation of any fund, to any purpose or object for which the appropriation for the current year has proved insufficient, or may authorize a transfer of monies to be made between items appropriated to the same office or department, except as follows:
(1) No transfer shall be made from any bond or note fund, except that the unexpended balance of such fund no longer needed for the purpose for which said fund was created shall be transferred to the fund from which said bonds or notes are to be paid.
(2) No transfer shall be made of monies raised or appropriated for the payment of any bond or note of the City, until all indebtedness, interest and other obligations which can lawfully be paid from such monies have been paid.
At the close of each fiscal year the unencumbered balance of each appropriation, except appropriations to bond or note funds or any other trust fund or special fund which the Council by law or this Charter shall be authorized to create, shall revert to the fund from which it was appropriated, and shall be subject to future appropriation.
(e) Payment of Claims. No money shall be drawn from the treasury nor shall any obligation for the expenditure of money be incurred, except pursuant to appropriations made by the Council. No warrant for the payment of any claim shall be issued until such claim shall have been approved in writing by the head of the department, commission, or board for which the obligation was incurred. Each head of a department and his surety shall be liable to the City for all loss and damage sustained by the City by reason of the unfaithful approval of any claim against the City in his department. The Director of Finance shall have power to require evidence that the amount of the claim is justly due and is in conformity to law and ordinance, and for that purpose he may summon before him any officer, agent or employee of any department of this City, and examine him upon oath or affirmation relative thereto.
(f) Custody and Deposit of Funds. The Council shall by ordinance provide for the depositories of the City. All funds received on behalf of the City by any officer, employee or agent thereof, shall be promptly paid over to the Director of Finance and by him promptly placed in a depository bank, but the Council may authorize such sums as it deems proper to be kept in cash for the daily operation of any department or office.
The Director of Finance, with the approval of a majority of the members of Council eligible to vote thereon, shall invest monies of the City in bonds or notes of this City, or any other investment permitted by the general laws of the State of Ohio, in such manner as is now or hereafter authorized by such general laws of the State of Ohio.
(g) Certification of Funds. No contract, agreement, or other obligation involving the expenditure of money, shall be entered into, nor shall any ordinance, resolution or order for the expenditure of money be passed or issued by the Council or be authorized by any officer of the City unless the Director of Finance shall have first certified in writing to the Council, or to the proper officer, as the case may be, that the money required for such contract, agreement, obligation, or expenditure, is to be drawn, and not appropriated for any other purpose. Such certificate shall be filed and immediately recorded by the Director of Finance. The sum so certified shall not thereafter be considered unappropriated until the City is discharged from the contract, agreement or obligation. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prevent the making of contracts for a period extending beyond a single fiscal year when such contracts are otherwise authorized by this Charter, by ordinance of Council or by the general laws of the State of Ohio.
All monies actually in the treasury to the credit of the fund from which they are to be drawn, and all moneys applicable to the payment of the obligation or appropriation involved, that are anticipated to come into the treasury before the maturity of such contract, agreement or obligation, from taxes, assessments, license fees, or from sales of service, products, or by-products of any municipal undertaking, and monies to be derived from lawfully authorized bonds or notes, shall, for the purpose of such certificate, be deemed to be in the treasury to the credit of the appropriate fund, and shall be subject to such certification.
(Adopted October 18, 1966)
(h) Public Bidding. The Council may authorize, in specific cases, expenditures of funds of the City in an amount exceeding the amount permitted by State Statutes without public bidding, for acquisition of real estate, for the discharge of noncontractual claims against the City, for personal services, for the joint use of facilities or exercise of powers with other political subdivisions, or for the product or services of expenditures exceeding the amount permitted by State Statutes shall be made except pursuant to contract made with the lowest and best bidder after public advertising and receipt of bids in the manner provided by law.
(Amended November 8, 1983)
(i) Public Improvements. Public improvements of all kinds may be made by the appropriate department either by the direct employment of the necessary labor and purchase of supplies and materials in the manner herein provided with a separate account as to each improvement so made, or by contract let as provided in the next preceding paragraph either for a closed price or upon a unit base.
(j) Taxation. The power of Council to levy taxes shall be subject to the limitations now or hereafter provided by the Constitution and the general laws of the State of Ohio, and nothing contained in this Charter shall be construed as authorizing a levy of any taxes in excess of such limitations without a vote of the people.