The Council shall, upon receipt of the annual operating budget from the Mayor, schedule and hold one (1) or more public hearings on the contents of the budget. Notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the territory of the Merged Government at least seven (7) days prior to the date set for such hearings.
The Council may amend the proposed annual operating budget submitted by the Mayor, except that the budget, as amended and adopted, shall provide for all expenditures required by law or by other provisions of this Charter, and for all debt service requirements for the next fiscal year.
Adoption of the annual operating budget by the Council shall be in the form of an annual appropriation ordinance. Said ordinance shall be adopted by the Council and forwarded to the Mayor not later than the fifteenth day of June each year. In the event that final action on the annual operating budget ordinance, including Council action on any veto or item veto by the Mayor, is not completed by the thirtieth day of June each year, the amounts appropriated for operations for the fiscal year just ended shall be deemed adopted for the current fiscal year on a month-to-month basis, with all items prorated accordingly until such time as the Council shall complete action on the appropriation ordinance for the annual operating budget for the current fiscal year.
The appropriations ordinance for the annual operating budget shall specify estimated revenues by source and shall list all appropriations according to fund by organizational unit, purpose or activity as set forth in the format of the budget document submitted by the Mayor. The amount set forth in the appropriation ordinance for each organizational unit, purpose or activity shall constitute the annual appropriation for such item.
The Council may, by vote of three-fifths (
3/5
) of its membership, make additional appropriations to the Merged Government during any fiscal year, provided that the additional funds are derived from unappropriated funds. In addition, the Council may, by a majority vote of its members, empower the Mayor to transfer the unencumbered balance of any appropriation, or portion thereof, to another appropriation category within the same section of the budget and within the same fund. In no case shall the Council authorize the transfer of funds from one services district appropriation to another as specified in Parts I and II of the annual operating budget.