A. Mayor Transmits Proposed Town Budget to the Legislative Council and Finance Commission694. Annually, not later than the eighteenth (18th) Day of March ("Budget Transmittal"), the Mayor, having reviewed or revised the budgetary requests outlined in 10-1 of this Charter and following consultation with the Director of Finance, shall present to the Legislative Council and Finance Commission a budget that shall consist of the capital projects budget and the proposed general fund or operating budget for the next fiscal year (including the Board of Education) and detailed budget estimates (i.e., estimates of revenues, Capital Expenditures, and general fund or operating expenses) for each of the four fiscal years thereafter ("Proposed Town Budget").
B. Contents of the Proposed Town Budget I: The General Fund or Operating Budget (including the Board of Education)695. The Proposed General Fund or Operating Budget shall contain the following information:
(1) Itemization of all anticipated revenue, including from sources other than the tax levy. The revenue estimates shall present, in parallel columns that are itemized,
(a) Actual revenues collected in the last completed fiscal year;
(b) Revenues collected during the current fiscal year prior to the time of preparing the estimates;
(c) Approved revenue for the current fiscal year;
(d) Estimated revenue to be collected during the current fiscal year;
(e) Estimated revenue to be collected during the ensuing fiscal year; and,
(f) Itemized average annual income from each source for the past five years setting forth recurring and non-recurring revenues.
The Legislative Council may, by Ordinance, establish criteria that the Mayor must use for estimating cash receipts from sources other than the tax levy.
(2) Itemized estimates of expenditures, presenting the actual expenditures for each Department696 for the last completed fiscal year and for the five (5) fiscal years prior to the time of preparing the estimates, total expenditures as estimated for the current fiscal year, and the requests of the several Departments697 for the ensuing fiscal year.
(3) The contents of the Proposed Town Budget shall also contain698:
(a) an estimate of the available surplus or deficit, at the end of the current fiscal year;
(b) proposed expenditures for debt service for the ensuing fiscal year with a schedule of maturities of bond issues (debt analysis beyond the duration of the five-year capital plan should be consistent with best practices);
(c) the proposed property tax levy for the ensuing fiscal year;
(d) the amount required for interest on the Town debt, and for maturing serial bonds and other maturing obligations, and other fixed charges, and the amount required to fund pensions currently which amount shall be determined by an independent actuary designated by the Mayor for that purpose and shall not be subject to reduction or rejection by the Finance Commission or the Legislative Council;
(e) the amount required to meet contractual provisions of collective bargaining agreements (and other side agreements relating thereto) pertaining to minimum mandatory workforce requirements;
(f) the recommendations of the Mayor and the Director of Finance of the amounts to be appropriated for the ensuing fiscal year for all items, including those of the Board of Education (as outlined in § 10-3 of this Charter);
(g) such other information as the Finance Commission or Council may require. The Mayor shall report to the Council the reason for all such recommendations; and,
(h) The proposed goals and objectives of the Town and expenditures for current operations during the ensuing fiscal year, detailed for each fund by organization unit, and program purpose or activity, and the method of financing such expenditures.
C. Contents of the Proposed Town Budget II: Capital Projects Budget (including the Board of Education)699. The Proposed Capital Projects Budget for the next and for four succeeding fiscal years thereafter
700 shall include the recommendations of the Mayor for those expenditures to be undertaken during the ensuing fiscal year and the method of financing the same
701 as well as the following information:
(1) A detailed estimate of the cost of each proposed project, listed according to the Department, Board or Commission or agency of the Town principally concerned with the project, which are expected to be commenced in the next fiscal year;
(2) A statement as to any off-setting reimbursements, such as state or federal grants anticipated in connection with the project;
(3) Such comparison with any prior year's appropriation for capital projects as the Mayor considers advisable, or the Finance Commission or Legislative Council shall have requested;
(4) A report summarizing the status of each previously approved capital project stating those which have been completed, and the balance of any unexpended bond funds available with recommendations for either redemption of bonds or other capital projects use; and
(5) Any other information the Mayor believes to be pertinent, or which is requested by the Finance Commission or Legislative Council.
The recommended method of financing proposed by the Mayor shall not be binding on the Finance Commission or the Legislative Council as to the method of financing any recommended project.
D. Contingency Appropriation702. The Mayor's Proposed General Fund or Operating Budget may include an appropriation the purpose of which is to fund unanticipated or unforeseeable expenses of the Town during the fiscal year. No portion of this appropriation may be used to fund additional operating expenses of a recurring nature, although it may be used to fund unanticipated incremental increases of ordinary operating expenses.
E. Special, Enterprise Equity Assistance703 Funds. The Mayor, following consultation with the Finance Director and Finance Commission, is required to recommend and the Legislative Council is required to consider and act upon policies pertaining to special funds or special revenue fund, equity assistance fund and enterprise funds, in accordance with best practices, in particular the standards of the Government Accounting Standards Board or its successor.
F. Required Actions of the Mayor and Legislative Council. The Mayor, following consultation with the Finance Director and the Finance Commission, is required to recommend and the Legislative Council is required to consider and act upon Ordinances establishing the following formal policies:
(1) Fund Balance Ordinance704. Defining the level of unrestricted fund balance that should be maintained in the general or operating fund for GAAP and budgetary purposes as well as the procedures required for the withdrawal and use of said funds.
(2) Equity Fund Ordinance. Defining the level of funding and methods of allocation of such funds, to address issues of equity, justice and inclusion for the people of the Town in accordance with the scope, priorities and recommendations of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commission.
Transition Language Pertaining to § 10-3.F(1) - (2). The required Ordinances shall be adopted by the Legislative Council not later than the first (1st) day of February 2023.
G. Public Inspection705. At the time of Budget Transmittal, the Mayor shall make available for public inspection in the Town Clerk's Office and the library system several copies of the Proposed Town Budget and all supportive material and supplements which are available to the Council, in accordance with the Public Notice provisions of this Charter. (See, 1-4.R). The Proposed Town Budget shall also be available for remote public inspection and accessible for the public through such electronic or digital platform either currently in existence or those to be created in the future (See, 9-3).
H. Mayor's Budget Message706. On or before the eighteenth (18th) Day of March the Mayor shall transmit a budget message to the Legislative Council. The Mayor's Budget Message is required to address the following:
(1) Explanation of the Proposed Town Budget both in fiscal terms and in terms of work programs, including any major changes from the current fiscal year budget and any changes in expenditures and revenues (together with the reasons for such changes);
(2) Outline of the proposed financial policies of the Town government for the ensuing year;
(3) Description of the important features of the budget - including major changes from the current fiscal year;
(4) Summary of the Town's debt position, including a statement of the bonds to mature and the interest payable on bonds outstanding;
(5) Explanation of the assumptions that were taken into account for any and all financial forecasts and estimates of expenditures or revenues in the Proposed Town Budget, including the amount required to meet contractual provisions of collective bargaining agreements pertaining to workforce requirements707;
(6) Explanation of the provisions of the Proposed Town Budget that comply with and advance the objectives of the plan of conservation and development required by the General Statutes and the Long Term Finance Plan required by this Charter708;
(7) Presentation of the reasons for all recommendations shall include a statement from the Board of Education setting forth their reasons for their budget recommendation following the same form and procedure with respect to the detailed estimate for the education department as required of the Mayor under this Charter for other departmental estimates709; and,
(8) Such other material as the Mayor deems desirable710.
693 2022 modification and recodification of 2011 § 10-2 derived from 1983 Charter § 18-2.
694 2022 modification and recodification of 2011 § 10-2.A derived from 983 Charter § 18-2 (first paragraph, first sentence). The inserted date replaces the following: "...not later than one hundred five (105) days before the end of the fiscal year."
695 2022 modification and recodification of 1983 Charter § 18-2.B (second paragraph, first sentence).
696 "Department" includes "..., office or agency".
697 "Department" includes "..., office or agency".
698 1983 Charter § 18-2 (second paragraph, second sentence items 1-5).
699 2022 modification of 2011 § 10-2.C entitled "Proposed Capital Expenditures".
700 1983 Charter § 18-2 (third paragraph, first sentence).
701 2022 recodification of 2011 § 10-2.C (third sentence). Derived from 1983 Charter § 18-2 (third paragraph, third sentence).
702 NEW (2022).
703 Comment of the 2022 Charter Revision Commission: An "equity assistance fund" is a fund to be used exclusively to assist efforts that reduce inequity based on race, gender or economic status in the town; requiring the annual budget to include a specified appropriation for the equity assistance fund." The City of Baltimore adopted in 2018.
704 NEW (2022).
705 2022 recodification of 2011 § 10-2.D. Consistent with 1983 Charter § 18-2 (fourth paragraph, first and second sentences).
706 2022 modification and recodification of 2011 § 10-2.A (1) - (5) derived from 1983 Charter § 18-2 (first paragraph, first sentence).
707 NEW (2022).
708 NEW (2022).
709 NEW (2022).
710 2022 modification of 1983 Charter § 18-2 (first paragraph, items 1-5).