2280                                Municipal Charters

SECTION 14. BUDGET AND FINANCE.

[d.] a. Fiscal [year.] Year. The fiscal year of [said Town] the
City shall begin on the first day of July in any year and shall end on the
last day of June in [each] the following year. Such fiscal year shall con-
stitute the tax year, the budget year, and the accounting year.

[e.] 6. Annual [budget.] Budget. [The official budget of the Town
shall be adopted in the form of an ordinance.] The City shall operate on
an annual budget. The Mayor, on such date as the Council by ordinance
determines, shall submit a budget to the Council. This 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 revenues shall equal or exceed the total of the
proposed expenditures.

c.   Budget Adoption. Before adopting the budget, the Council shall
hold a public hearing thereon after publishing notice of said public hearing
in at least one publication of general circulation within the City. The Coun-
cil may insert new items or may increase or decrease the items of the
budget. If the Council increases the total proposed expenditures, it shall
also increase the total anticipated revenues to an amount at least equal to
the total proposed expenditures. The budget shall be prepared and adopted
in the form of an ordinance. A favorable vote of at least a majority of
the total elected membership of the Council is necessary for adoption.

d.   Appropriations. No public money may be expended without having
been appropriated 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.
Any transfer of funds between appropriations for different purposes must
be approved by the Council before becoming effective. All appropriations
lapse at the end of the budget year to the extent that they are not ex-
pended 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 revenues for the next succeeding budget
year.

e.   Audit. The Council shall provide for the financial books and ac-
counts of the City to be audited annually as required by Section 40 of
Article 19 of the Code of Public General Laws of Maryland, or at such
other times as the Council may require. The Council shall appoint the
auditor.

[SECTION 17. FINANCIAL STATEMENT.]

f. Financial Statement. [It shall be the duty of the Mayor and
Council of the City of New Carrollton, at] At least [ten (10)] thirty days
before each general election, and before each special election at which
there is a ballot question pertaining to the expenditure or borrowing of
public monies, [to] the Mayor shall have prepared in form appropriate
and made available in a suitable place or places for inspection by the tax-
payers of the [Town] City a detailed statement of the financial condition
of the [Town,] City, including receipts and expenditures of all kinds
whatsoever since the last general election.