2100                               Municipal Charters

39.        The City shall operate on an annual budget. The fiscal year of
the City shall begin on the first day of July and shall end on the last day of
June in each year. Such fiscal year shall constitute the tax year, the
budget year, and the accounting year.

40.        The City Manager, on such date as the Council shall determine, but
at least sixty days before the beginning of any fiscal year, shall submit a
budget to the Council. The budget shall provide a complete financial plan
for the budget year and shall contain estimates of anticipated revenues and
proposed expenditures for the coming year. The total of the anticipated
revenue shall equal or exceed the total of the proposed expenditures. The
budget shall be a public record in the City Office, open to public inspection
by anyone during normal business hours.

41.        Before adopting the budget, the Council shall hold a public hearing
thereon after fifteen days' notice thereof in some newspaper or newspapers
of general circulation within the City. The Council may insert new items
or may increase or decrease the items of the budget. Where the Council
shall increase the total proposed expenditures it shall also levy taxes which
shall be sufficient, with other anticipated revenues, to equal such total
proposed expenditures. The budget shall be prepared and adopted in the
form of an ordinance. A favorable vote of a majority of the Councilmen
present and voting shall be necessary for adoption.

42.        No public money may be expended without having been appro-
priated by the Council. From the effective date of the budget, the several
amounts stated therein as proposed expenditures shall be and become
appropriated to the several objects and purposes named therein. The
Council shall have the power, after the adoption of the budget, to approve
transfer of funds from one purpose to another.

43.        No officer or employee shall during any budget year expend or
contract to expend any money or incur any liability or enter into any
contract which by its terms involves the expenditure of money for any
purpose, in excess of the amounts appropriated for or transferred to that
general classification of expenditure pursuant to this Charter. Any con-
tract, verbal or written, made in violation of this Charter shall be null
and void. Nothing in this section contained, however, shall prevent the
making of contracts or the spending of money for capital improvements to
be financed in whole or in part by the issuance of bonds, nor the making of
contracts of lease or for services for a period exceeding the budget year in
which such contract is made, when such contract is permitted by law.

44.        All appropriations shall lapse at the end of the budget year to the
extent that they shall not have been expended or lawfully encumbered.
Any unexpended and unencumbered funds shall be considered a surplus at
the end of the budget year and shall be included among the anticipated
revenue for the next succeeding budget year.

45.        The Council shall have the power at any time, by ordinance, not-
withstanding any other provision of this Charter, to amend the budget to
include, and to permit the expenditure of, any revenues in excess of the
revenues anticipated at the time of adoption of the budget.

46.        All checks issued in payment of City obligations shall be signed by
such persons as shall be designated from time to time by resolution of the
Council, provided that if the Council shall fail to designate any such
persons, all checks shall be signed by the Mayor and countersigned by the
City Manager.