(a) Appointment. The Director of Finance shall be appointed by the Mayor with the approval of a majority of the members of Council. The Director of Finance may be removed from office by the Mayor with the concurrence of a majority of the members of Council.
(Amended 11-4-14)
(b) General Duties. The Director of Finance shall be the chief fiscal officer of the Municipality and of the several departments and offices thereof. The Director shall keep an accurate account of all taxes and assessments, of all the assets and liabilities of the Municipality, of all receipts and disbursements of the Municipality, and of all appropriations made by the Council. The Director shall examine and approve, if in proper form, and if an appropriation has been duly made therefor, payrolls, bills, and other claims, and prepare and sign all warrants.
(Amended 11-6-18)
(c) Office of Purchasing. Within the Office of the Director of Finance there is hereby created the Office of Purchasing. The Mayor shall appoint a person to serve as the Purchasing Agent for the Municipality and who shall report directly to the Director of Finance.
On the basis of requisitions submitted and approved by the Mayor or Council, and in compliance with subpart (n) of this Section VI-3, the Purchasing Agent shall contract for, purchase on specification, store and distribute, all supplies required by the Municipality. The Purchasing
Agent, along with the appropriate director, division head, or administrator, shall be responsible for the inspection of all supplies and determine their quantity, quality and conformation to specifications. The Purchasing Agent shall transfer supplies and accept bids for the disposal of obsolete or surplus equipment as requested by the responsible department, division, commission, or board.
The Purchasing Agent shall be responsible for the oversight of the final preparation and issuance of all public bid specifications and bid solicitations for the Municipality. The Purchasing Agent shall use best efforts to obtain at least twenty-five (25) percent minority and/or female participation by those persons or entities contracting for goods, services, labor and materials with
the Municipality.
(Amended 11-8-22)
(d) Appropriations and Reports. The Director of Finance shall be responsible for the preparation and submission of appropriation measures and shall assist the Mayor and Council in the preparation of estimates, budgets, and other financial matters. The Director shall submit to Council through the Mayor at the second regular Council meeting of each succeeding month, a monthly statement showing:
All receipts had during the preceding month.
All disbursements made during the preceding month.
A cumulative statement for each appropriation showing:
Amount of appropriation;
Amount of expended against the appropriation at the end of the preceding month;
Balance remaining.
The foregoing statement shall be in such further sufficient detail as may be required by Council to show the exact financial condition of the Municipality.
(e) Collections. The Director of Finance shall be the collector and the custodian of all monies of the Municipality, including license fees, fines, court costs and waivers. The Director shall reserve and preserve such monies in such manner and form and in such places as the Council shall direct. The Director shall also receive and disburse all other public monies coming into the Director’s hands, pursuant to such requirements as may be requested by the authorities having lawful control over such funds. (Amended 11-6-18)
(f) Certification. No contract, agreement or other obligation involving the expenditure of money shall be entered into by any officer of the Municipality unless the Director of Finance first certifies to Council or to the proper officer, as the case may be, that the money required for such contract, agreement, obligation or expenditure is in the Treasury, to the credit of the fund for which it is to be drawn, or in the process of collection, and not appropriated for any other purpose, which certificates shall be filed and immediately recorded. The sums so certified shall not thereafter be considered unappropriated until the Municipality is discharged from the contract, agreement or obligation.
(g) Funds Subject to Certification. All monies actually in the Treasury to the credit of the fund from which they are to be drawn, and all monies 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 or assessments, or from sales, services, products, or from any municipal undertakings, fees, charges, accounts and bills receivable, or other credits in the process of collection; and all monies applicable to the payment of such obligation or appropriation, which are to be paid into the Treasury prior to the maturity thereof, arising from the sale or lease of lands or other property, and the monies to be derived from lawfully authorized bonds or notes sold and in the process of delivery shall, for the purpose of such certificate, be deemed in the Treasury and subject to such certification.
(h) Failure to Comply. All contracts, agreements or other obligations entered into contrary to the provisions of subsections (f) and (g) of this section of this Charter shall be void.
(i) Attendance at Council. The Director of Finance shall attend all regular meetings of the Council and such other meetings as directed by the Mayor and Council. The Director of Finance shall perform all other duties required by this Charter and by ordinance or resolution of Council.
(Amended November 4, 2003)
(j) Annual Appropriation Estimate.
1. Fiscal Year. Unless by ordinance otherwise provided, the fiscal year shall be the same as established for municipalities by the general law of Ohio.
2. Estimates. The Mayor with the assistance of the Director of Finance shall prepare and submit to Council not less than forty-five (45) days before the end of each fiscal year an estimate of revenue and expenditures for the succeeding fiscal year. The head of each department, board, and commission shall submit to the Mayor the necessary information for such estimates. The estimate shall consist of: estimate of revenue from all sources and a comparative statement for the current year and the preceding year; estimate of expenses of each department and activity of the Municipality and a comparative statement for the current year and the preceding year; amount of debt and schedule of maturities of outstanding bonds and notes; value of current inventory or supplies; and amount of unencumbered balance in each bond and improvement fund.
(k) Appropriation Ordinance. Council shall adopt an annual appropriation ordinance within ninety (90) days from the beginning of the fiscal year. Council may make one or more preliminary appropriations for current expenses until the annual appropriation ordinance is in effect.
(Amended November 3, 2009)
(l) Transfers and Balances. The Council may transfer any part of an unencumbered balance of an appropriation of any fund allowed by law to any purpose or object for which the appropriation for the current year has proven insufficient, except that no transfer shall be of monies raised or appropriated for the payment of any bond or note of the Municipality until all indebtedness, interest and other obligations which must lawfully be paid from such monies has been paid.
(m) Payment of Claims. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury nor shall an obligation for expenditure be incurred except in accordance with appropriations made by Council. Claims shall be approved in writing by the head or acting head of the department for which the obligation was incurred. (Amended November 2, 1993)
(n) Public Bidding.
1. Bidding Required. Each net expenditure of more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) shall be made to the lowest and best bidder after public advertising in a manner prescribed by the Council. Council shall not be required to accept any bid.
2. Waiver of Requirement. The Council may authorize expenditures exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) without public advertising in the following specific cases: acquisition of real estate; discharge of noncontractual claims against the Municipality; for personal professional services; for joint use of facilities with other political subdivisions; participation in State of Ohio cooperative purchasing programs and cooperative purchasing programs of political subdivisions where bids or quotations are received for the products or services being purchased; and for the products or services of public utilities; provided, that Council may authorize a purchase or contract involving an expenditure of more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) without advertising for bids if it determines and declares by an affirmative vote of not less than five (5) members than an emergency exists and sets forth the nature of the emergency in its resolution or ordinance.
(Amended November 3, 2009)
(o) 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 Section 3
, subsection (n), of this Article of this Charter either for a closed price or upon a unit basis.
(p) Three-Year Financial Plan. At the direction of the Mayor and with the assistance of the other department heads, the Finance Director shall develop a three (3) year financial plan for the City reflecting current and projected annual revenues and expenditures for the upcoming three (3) years. This plan shall be submitted to Council by December 31 of each year.
(Added November 2, 1993)
(Added November 2, 1993)