(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.03. SYSTEM OF TAXATION. Subject to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota and except as forbidden by it or by the laws of the State of Minnesota, the City Council shall have full power to provide for a system of local taxation. This authority includes the power by ordinance to assess, levy, and collect taxes on all subjects or objects of taxation except as limited or prohibited by the Constitution of the State of Minnesota or the laws of the State of Minnesota, by this Charter or by laws imposing restrictions upon the City irrespective of the provisions of this Charter.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
The budget shall provide a complete financial plan for the City funds and activities for the ensuing fiscal year and, except as required by the laws of the State of Minnesota or this Charter, shall be in such form as the City Administrator deems desirable or the City Council may require. It shall include a summary and show in detail all estimated income and all proposed expenditures, including debt service and comparative figures for the fiscal year, actual and estimated, and the preceding fiscal year. In addition to showing proposed expenditures for current operations, it shall show proposed capital expenditures to be made during the year and the proposed method of financing each such capital expenditure. For each enterprise operated by the City, the budget shall show anticipated net surplus or deficit and the proposed method of its disposition; and subsidiary budgets for each such enterprise giving income and expenditure information shall be included or attached as appendices. The total proposed operating budget shall not exceed the amounts authorized by the laws of the State of Minnesota. Consistent with these provisions, the budget shall contain such information and be in the form prescribed by ordinance and by the laws of the State of Minnesota.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.05. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN. The City Administrator shall prepare and submit to the City Council a recommended capital improvement plan to include all enterprise operations in accordance with the calendar established by the City Council. The capital improvement plan shall include a list of all capital improvements proposed to be undertaken during the upcoming fiscal years, with appropriate supporting information as to the necessity for such improvements, cost estimates, estimates of financing and recommended time schedules for each improvement and the estimated annual cost of operating and maintaining the facilities to be constructed or acquired. This information shall be revised and extended each year for capital improvements still pending or in process. The City Council shall hold a public hearing on the capital improvement plan.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.06. CITY COUNCIL ACTION ON BUDGET. The budget shall be considered at a regular monthly meeting of the City Council as scheduled in the budget calendar and at subsequent meetings until a budget is adopted for the ensuing year. This meeting shall be so conducted as to give interested citizens a responsible opportunity to be heard. The City Council may revise the proposed budget, but no amendment to the budget shall increase the authorized expenditures to an amount greater than the estimated income of the City. The City Council shall adopt the budget by a resolution which shall set forth the total for each budgeted fund and each department with such segregation as to objects and purposes of expenditures as the City Council deems necessary for purposes of budget control. The City Council shall also adopt a resolution levying the amount of taxes provided in the budget and the City Administrator shall certify the tax resolution to the County Auditor in accordance with the laws of the State of Minnesota. Adoption of the budget resolution shall constitute appropriations at the beginning of the fiscal year of the sums fixed in the resolution for the several purposes named.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.07. ENFORCEMENT OF THE BUDGET. The City Administrator shall enforce strictly the provisions of the budget. The City Administrator shall not authorize any payment or the incurring of any obligation by the City unless an appropriation has been made in the budget resolution and there is a sufficient unexpended balance left after deducting the total past expenditures and encumbrances against the appropriation. No officer or employee of the City shall place any order or make any purchase except for a purpose and to the amount authorized in the budget resolution. Any obligation incurred by any person in the employ of the City for any purpose not authorized in the budget resolution or for any amount in excess of the amount authorized shall be a personal obligation upon the person incurring the obligation. No check shall be issued or transfer made to any account other than one owned by the City until the claim to which it relates has been supported by an itemized bill, payroll, or time sheet or other document approved and signed by the responsible City employee who vouches for its correct accuracy.
Section 7.08. ALTERATIONS IN THE BUDGET. After the budget resolution has been adopted, the City Council shall not increase the amounts fixed in the resolution beyond the estimated receipts except to the extent that actual receipts exceed the estimate. At any time the City Council may, by resolution approved by a majority of its members, reduce the sums appropriated for any purpose by the budget resolution or authorize the transfer of sums from unencumbered balances of appropriations in the budget resolution to other purposes.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.09. FUNDS. There shall be maintained in the City treasury a general fund and such other funds as may be required by the laws of the State of Minnesota, City ordinance or resolution. The City Council may, by ordinance or resolution, make inter-fund loans, except from trust funds, as it may deem necessary and appropriate.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.10. TAX ANTICIPATION CERTIFICATES. At any time after January 1, the City Council may issue certificates of indebtedness in anticipation of the collection of taxes levied the previous year for any fund and not yet collected. The total amount of certificates issued against any fund for any year together with interest thereon until maturity shall not exceed the total current taxes for the fund uncollected at the time of issuance. Such certificates shall be issued on such terms and conditions as the City Council may determine, but they shall become due not later than April 1, of the year following their issuance. The proceeds of the tax levied for the fund against which tax anticipation certificates are issued and the full faith and credit of the City shall be irrevocably pledged for the redemption of the certificates.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.11. EMERGENCY DEBT CERTIFICATES. If in any year the receipts from taxes or other sources from some unforeseen cause become insufficient for the ordinary expenses of the City, or if any calamity or other public emergency necessitates the making of extraordinary expenditures, the City Council may by ordinance issue, on such terms and in such manner as the City Council determines, emergency debt certificates to run not to exceed three (3) years. A tax sufficient to pay principal and interest on such certificates with the margin required by the laws of the State of Minnesota shall be levied as required by the laws of the State of Minnesota. The ordinance authorizing an issue of such emergency debt certificate shall state the nature of the emergency and be approved by a majority vote of the City Council. The ordinance may be passed as an emergency ordinance.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.12. CITY INDEBTEDNESS. Except as provided in Section 7.10 and 7.11 of this Charter, no obligations shall be issued to pay current expenses, but the City Council may issue and sell obligations for any other City purpose in accordance with and within limitations prescribed by the laws of the State of Minnesota. Except in the case of obligations for which an election is not required by this Charter or by the laws of the State of Minnesota, no such obligations shall be issued and sold without the approval of the majority of the voters voting on the question at a general or special election.
(Ord. 277, passed 11-17-14)
Section 7.13. AUTHORITY FOR EXPENDITURES. The City Council shall establish a Public Expenditure Policy (the “Policy”), which shall be reviewed and approved by the City Council annually. In establishing, reviewing, and approving this Policy, the City Council shall consider whether the expenditures to be authorized by the Policy: 1) benefit the community as a whole; 2) are directly related to governmental functions; and 3) primarily benefit the public interest, not a private interest. In establishing, reviewing, and approving the Policy, the City Council shall consider the opinion of the City Attorney and statewide sources of authority, which may include judicial determinations, Minnesota Attorney General opinions, and findings of the Office of the State Auditor.
Expenditures related to any of the following activities shall be deemed authorized if the Policy expressly provides authorization: international, cultural, and economic development programs; community events, festivals, and celebrations; miscellaneous employee benefits; employee recognition; and funding for conference attendance. The City Council may also provide specific authorization regarding any other expenditure.
(Ord. 2016-286, passed 2-1-16)