Lomita Municipal Code Ch. 7 City Funds and Records

No city officer shall, except for his own service, present any claim, account or demand for allowance against the city, or in any way except in the discharge of his official duty advocate the relief asked in the claim or demand made by any other person. Any person may appear before the city council and oppose the allowance of any claim or demand made against the city.

The city council shall not hear or consider or allow or approve any claim, bill or demand against the city unless the same be itemized giving names, dates, and particular services rendered, character of process served and upon whom, distance traveled, character of work done, and number of days engaged, materials and supplies furnished, when and to whom, and in what quantity furnished, the price therefor, and any other pertinent details as the case may be. Claims and demands for salaries and wages of officers and employees of the city may, but need not be, presented to the city in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

(a) Applicability of chapter. Pursuant to section 935 of the Government Code, all claims against the City of Lomita for money or damages, including those which are excepted by section 905 of the Government Code, and which are not governed by any other statutes or regulations expressly relating thereto, shall be governed by the procedure prescribed in this section and chapter.

(b) Suits for money or damages; claim prerequisites. No suit for money or damages may be brought against the city on a cause of action for which this section requires a claim to be presented until a written claim therefor has been filed and acted upon in conformity with this chapter and sections 945.4 and 945.6 of the Government Code.

(c) Claims: time limitation. The claim for any cause of action specified in subsection (a) of this section shall be presented in the manner provided in subsection (e) not later than one (1) year after the accrual of the cause of action; except that a claim for death or for injury to person or to personal property or growing crops, or on a cause of action for equitable indemnity or partial equitable indemnity, shall be presented not later than six (6) months after the accrual of the cause of action.

(d) Claims: late filing. In accordance with section 935 of the Government Code, the late filing of claims pursuant to this section is regulated by sections 911.4 to 912.2, inclusive, of the Government Code.

(e) Claims; presentation and contents. A signed, written claim shall be presented to the City of Lomita by mailing or delivering it to the city clerk of the City of Lomita by the claimant or by a person acting on his behalf. The claim shall conform to the requirements of section 910 of the Government Code or of a form provided by the city, if such claim is provided.

(f) Claims; statutory procedures for consideration and action adopted. Unless otherwise provided in this section, the procedure for consideration and action upon all claims filed pursuant to this chapter shall be the same as the procedure provided and required by sections 910.2 through 915.2 of the Government Code, except section 911.2, which provisions and sections are hereby adopted as the requirements of this section and chapter.

(Ord. No. 511, § 1, 4-5-93)

Any claim or demand against the city or against any city officer in his official capacity, payable out of any city fund or any fund under control of the city treasurer, shall be filed and presented to the city council as herein provided before any suit may be brought thereon. No suit may be brought on any claim until it has been rejected in whole or in part. If the city council refuses or neglects to allow or reject a claim for forty-five (45) days after it is filed with the city clerk, the claimant may treat such refusal or neglect as final action and rejection on the forty-fifth day.

Each claim or demand shall be presented by the director of finance to the department head, if any, who authorized the same, for his written approval thereof, and each claim or demand shall thereafter be presented to the city manager for his written approval thereof. The director of finance shall inform the city council in writing of any claims or demands presented against the city which shall fail to obtain the approval of the proper department head or which shall fail to obtain the approval of the city manager. All such claims and demands, whether approved as aforesaid or not, shall be forwarded by the director of finance to the city council for audit. The city council shall audit said claims and demands as required by law.

(Ord. No. 699, § 1, 4-2-07)

If the city council finds that any claim or demand is not a proper charge against the city, it shall be rejected by resolution of minute action; and the fact of rejection shall be plainly endorsed upon the claim by the director of finance or his authorized representative. If any claim or demand is determined to be a proper charge against the city, the same shall be allowed only by resolution setting forth as to each claim the name of the claimant, a brief statement of the claim, and the amount allowed. Any claim may be allowed in part and rejected in part by the city council.

If any claim or demand be approved and allowed by the city council, the director of finance or his authorized representative shall endorse upon each of the duplicate copies thereof the words "Allowed by the City Council of the City of Lomita," together with the resolution number allowing the same and for what amount and from what fund, and the director of finance shall attest the same with his signature.

If any claim or demand be approved and allowed by the city council, the mayor shall draw a warrant upon the city treasury for the same, which warrant shall be countersigned by the city clerk, or his authorized representative, and the city treasurer, or his authorized representative, and shall specify for what purpose the same is drawn and out of what fund it is to be paid.

Except as otherwise provided, no warrant shall be drawn or evidence of indebtedness issued unless there be at the time sufficient money in the treasury legally applicable to the payment of the same.

Upon presentation of said warrant, properly executed and endorsed, the city treasurer shall pay the same out of funds in the city treasury properly applicable to that purpose.

When an order or demand is not approved for want of funds and its amount does not exceed the income and revenue for the year in which the indebtedness was incurred, the director of finance or his authorized representative shall endorse on it: "Not approved for want of funds," with the date of presentation and his signature.

The director of finance or his authorized representative shall number the endorsement, register the order or demand in his records, and deliver it to the claimant, or his order. From delivery the order or demand bears interest at six (6) percent a year. Orders or demands shall be paid in the order they are registered.

The city council does hereby find and determine that there are certain foreseeable urgency expenses, claims, and demands to be incurred by the city for which immediate payment thereof is in the best interest of the city, administered by the city manager, subject to the prior approval of the mayor of said city and subsequent ratification by the city council, and, for the purpose of meeting such expenses, it is the intent of the city council to establish a revolving fund to provide for such urgency payments.

(Ord. No. 699, § 1, 4-2-07)

Notwithstanding this chapter, there is hereby established a fund to be known as the special revolving fund to be maintained out of the general fund and to be administered by the city manager with prior approval of the mayor of the City of Lomita in the manner and for the purposes herein enumerated.

(Ord. No. 699, § 1, 4-2-07)

The special revolving fund shall be maintained in the maximum amount of two thousand dollars ($2,000.00) and shall be reimbursed for expenditures therefrom upon the approval by the city council of the financial statement submitted by the city manager and the mayor to the city council at any regular or special meeting itemizing such expenditures made during the preceding month from said fund and containing an explanation, where necessary, of the reasonableness and necessity of such expenditures.

(Ord. No. 699, § 1, 4-2-07)

Expenditures by the city manager, with prior approval of the mayor, shall be made from the special revolving fund only for such goods, equipment, supplies, and services previously approved by the city council as reflected in the adopted yearly appropriations, budget, or resolution; provided that the urgency of such expenditures is established and it is to the best interest of the City of Lomita that such amount be paid prior to the next regular or special meeting of the council; and, provided further, that no single expenditure shall exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00) and that the total expenditures for any one (1) month shall not exceed two thousand dollars ($2,000.00).

(Ord. No. 699, § 1, 4-2-07)

The special revolving fund shall be maintained as a separate and distinct fund from the general fund and lodged in a state or national bank in the City of Lomita, State of California, selected by the mayor and city manager and approved by the city treasurer.

(Ord. No. 699, § 1, 4-2-07)