(a) General Duties. The Department of Finance shall be headed by the Director of Finance who shall be the chief fiscal officer of the Municipality and of the several departments and offices thereof. The Director of Finance 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 of Finance 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 11-2-65; 11-3-20.)
(b) 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 of Finance 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 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.
(Amended 11-3-20.)
(c) 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 of Finance shall receive and preserve such monies in such manner and in such places as the Council shall direct. The Director of Finance shall also receive and disburse all other public monies coming into the Finance Director’s hands, pursuant to such requests as may be prescribed by the authorities having lawful control over such funds.
(Amended 11-3-20.)
(d) Certification. No contract, agreement or other obligation involving the expenditure of money shall be entered into by any officer of the Municipality, nor shall any ordinance, resolution, or order for the expenditure of money be passed by Council, 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. (Amended 11-3-20.)
(e) 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 or services, productions or from any City 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 sold and in the process of delivery shall, for the purpose of such certificate, be deemed in the treasury and subject to such certification.
(f) Failure to Comply. All contracts, agreements or other obligations and all ordinances, resolutions and orders entered into or passed contrary to the provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of this section of this Charter shall be void, and no person whomsoever shall have any claim or demand against the Municipality thereunder, nor shall the Council nor any officer of the Municipality waive or qualify the limits fixed by such ordinance, resolution or order or fasten upon the Municipality any liability whatever in excess of such limits, or release any party from an exact compliance with this Charter under such ordinance, resolution or order.
(g) Attendance at Council. The Director of Finance shall attend all meetings of the Council and the Director of Finance shall perform all other duties required by this Charter and by ordinance or resolution of Council. (Amended 11-3-20.)