CHARTER OF THE CITY OF COOKEVILLE, TENNESSEE 1

1   Priv. Acts 1961, ch. 223, is the current basic charter act for the City of Cookeville, Tennessee. The text of the basic charter act set out herein includes all its amendments through the 2012 session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Sections of the charter which have been amended contain at the end of those sections the citation to the official private act or acts constituting the amendment or amendments. No other changes have been made to the charter except the addition of a table of contents to facilitate its use. A list of all the private acts including the basic charter appears at the end of the charter. Acts which did not expressly or in effect amend any particular section or part of the basic charter, but which supplemented it, have been placed after the basic charter act as "Related Private Acts." Acts of a temporary nature with no general or continuing application, such as bond authorization and validation acts have not been included in this compilation.

CHAPTER NO. 223
House Bill No. 816
(By Dero Brown)

   AN ACT to amend the Charter of Cookeville, Tennessee, being Chapter 542 of the Acts of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee of 1903, and all Acts amendatory thereto.

   TABLE OF CONTENTS

Article I.
Amending Provision, Boundaries, Form of Government, Corporate Powers

   1.01.   Amendment of charter

   1.02.   City of Cookeville

   1.03.   Corporate boundaries

   1.04.   Form of government

   1.05.   Corporate powers

Article II.
Mayor and Council

   2.01.   Number, selection, term

   2.02.   Qualifications

   2.03.   Compensation

   2.04.   Presiding officer; mayor

   2.05.   Powers

   2.06.   Appointment of city manager

   2.07.   Removal of city manager

   2.08.   Council not to interfere in appointments or removals

   2.09.   Vacancies in council

   2.10.   Creation of new departments or offices

   2.11.   City clerk

   2.12.   Induction of council into office; meetings of council

   2.13.   Rules of procedure; journal

   2.14.   Ordinances

   2.15.   City legislation

   2.16.   Permissive referendum; effective date of ordinances

   2.17.   Independent annual audit

Article III.
The City Manager

   3.01.   The city manager; qualifications

   3.02.   The city manager; powers and duties

   3.03.   Absence of city manager

   3.04.   Administrative departments

   3.05.   Directors of departments

   3.06.   Departmental divisions

   3.07.   Merit basis of appointment

Article IV.
Fiscal Administration

   4.01.   Fiscal year

   4.02.   City manager to submit annual budgets

   4.03.   Contents of budgets

   4.04.   Capital improvement budget

   4.05.   Appropriation and additional revenue ordinances

   4.06.   Copies of budget message and budgets

   4.07.   Public hearing

   4.08.   Action by city council

   4.09.   Additional appropriations

   4.10.   Appropriations to lapse

   4.11.   Allotments

   4.12.   Budgetary reports to council

   4.13.   Penalty for unauthorized contract or expenditure

   4.14.   Annual audit

   4.15.   Centralized purchasing

   4.16.   Allotments required; advance authorization for emergency purchases

   4.17.   Powers and duties of purchasing agent

   4.18.   Stocking supplies, materials, and equipment

   4.19.   Who may make expenditures and contracts; bids

   4.20.   Bonds for public works contracts

   4.21.   Bid records to be preserved

   4.22.   Exception to purchase governmental materials

   4.23.   Sale of city property

   4.24.   Official depository

Article V.
Taxation

   5.01.   Property taxes; assessment date

   5.02.   Property taxes on public service companies

   5.03.   Responsible officers

   5.04.   City may use county assessment or make assessment

   5.05.   Procedure if county assessment is used

   5.06.   Procedure if city assessment is made

   5.07.   Powers and duties of the city assessor

   5.08.   Board of equalization

   5.09.   Procedure for review of assessments

   5.10.   Tax levy

   5.11.   Tax bills; failure to send does not invalidate tax

   5.12.   When property taxes due and payable; penalty and interest

   5.13.   Collection of delinquent taxes

   5.14.   Lien for taxes

   5.15.   Collection of merchants ad valorem taxes

   5.16.   Mistakes or technicalities not to invalidate assessments; corrections

Article VI.
Borrowing and Bonds

   6.01.   Notes in anticipation of current tax collections

   6.02.   Purposes for which bonds may be issued

   6.03.   Serial bonds

   6.04.   Sinking funds

   6.05.   Bond ordinance

   6.06.   Title of bond ordinance; two or more projects may be included

   6.07.   Procedure for adoption of bond ordinance; publication of notice

   6.08.   Effective date of bond ordinance

   6.09.   Period of limitations to challenge bond ordinance

   6.10.   Determinations in bond ordinance conclusive

   6.11.   Bonds may be callable

   6.12.   Term of bonds not be exceed life of improvements

   6.13.   Election required except for certain bonds

   6.14.   Public sale

   6.15.   Property tax levy to retire voted bonds

   6.16.   Cancellation of retired bonds and paid interest coupons

   6.17.   Supplementary nature of title VI

ARTICLE VIA.
Public Parking Facilities

   6A.01.   Definitions

   6A.02.   Provisions in this article are supplementary

   6A.03.   Resolution for the project, notice of public hearing, etc

   6A.04.   Public hearing; when referendum is required

   6A.05.   Construction may be on bids or by city forces

   6A.06.   Bond resolution

   6A.07.   Bids for bonds

   6A.08.   Disposition of bond funds

   6A.09.   Bonds, bond security, etc

   6A.10.   Basis of assessments

   6A.11.   Assessments against public property

   6A.12.   Payment of assessments; penalties and interest for delinquency

   6A.13.   Assessments to constitute liens

   6A.14.   Special fund for assessments

   6A.15.   Disposition of collected assessments; calculation of annual assessments, etc

   6A.16.   Additional bonds or funds to cover deficiency

   6A.17.   Refunding bonds

   6A.18.   Use of parking facilities; disposition of revenues

   6A.19.   Severability clause

   6A.20.   Approval required

   6A.21.   Date of effect

Article VII.
City Judge and City Court; City Attorney

   7.01.   City court established; jurisdiction

   7.02.   Appeals

   7.03.   Warrant for each offense; exception

   7.04.   Other officers may decide lesser traffic offenses

   7.05.   Clerk of court and other employees

   7.06.   Court docket

   7.07.   City attorney

Article VIII.
Utilities

   8.01.   Authority to own or operate public utility

   8.02.   Accounting system

   8.03.   Budgets and allotments

   8.04.   Other laws and ordinances may apply

   8.05.   Municipal utilities separate enterprises

Article IX.
Hospitals

   9.01.   Board of trustees

Article X.
Nominations and Elections

   10.01.   Municipal elections

   10.02.   Regulation of elections

   10.03.   Nominations

   10.04.   Council ballots

   10.05.   Voting machines

Article XI.
Initiative and Referendum

   11.01.   Power of initiative

   11.02.   Power of referendum

   11.03.   Form of petitions: committee of petitioners

   11.04.   Filing, examination and certification of petitions

   11.05.   Amendment of petitions

   11.06.   Effect of certification of referendum petition

   11.07.   Consideration by council

   11.08.   Submission to electors

   11.09.   Form of ballot for initiated and referred ordinances

   11.10.   Results of election

   11.11.   Repealing ordinances: publication

Article XII.

[Deleted]

Article XIII.
Succession in Government

   13.01.   Rights of officers and employees preserved

   13.02.   Continuance of present officers

   13.03.   Transfer of records and property

   13.04.   Continuity of offices, departments and agencies

   13.05.   Continuance of contracts and public improvement

   13.06.   Pending actions and proceedings

Article XIV.
Miscellaneous Provisions

   14.01.   Right of city manager and other officers in council

   14.02.   Investigations by council or city manager

   14.03.   Contracts extending beyond one year

   14.04.   Publicity of records

   14.05.   Conflicts of interest

   14.06.   Official bonds

   14.07.   Oath of office

   14.08.   Penalties

   14.09.   Repeal of laws in conflict

   14.10.   Severability

   14.11.   Local approval and date of applicability

   14.12.   Effective date