Needles Municipal Code Art. XI Fiscal Administration

The fiscal year of the city shall begin on the first day of July of each year and end on the thirtieth day of June of the following year.

The procedure for the assessment, levy and collection of taxes upon property taxable for municipal purposes may be prescribed by ordinance. Unless otherwise provided by ordinance, the city shall continue to use, for the purpose of ad valorem municipal taxation, the county system of assessment and tax collection, as such system is now in effect or may hereafter be amended and in so far as such provisions are not in conflict with this Charter.

1. The council shall not levy a property tax for municipal purposes, except as otherwise provided in this section, in excess of two dollars annually on each one hundred dollars of the assessed value of taxable property in the city, unless authorized by the affirmative votes of a majority of those electors voting on a proposition to increase such levy at any election at which the question of such additional levy for municipal purposes is submitted to the electors. The number of years that such additional levy is to be made shall be specified in such proposition and the purpose thereof may also be specified.
2. There shall be levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner as other property taxes for municipal purposes are levied and collected, in addition to the above limit, if no other provision for payment thereof is made:
3. A tax sufficient to meet all liabilities of the city for principal and interest of all bonds and judgments due and unpaid, or to become due during the ensuing fiscal year, which constitute general obligations of the city; and
4. A tax sufficient to meet all obligations of the city for the retirement of city employees, due and unpaid or to become due during the ensuing fiscal year.
5. Special levies, in addition to the above limits, may be made annually for the purposes, within the limits, and to the extent that general law cities may make special levies in addition to their general tax limit, under the codes and statutes of the state as they may exist from time to time.

The proceeds of any such additional or special levy shall be used only for the respective purposes for which it is levied. (S. C. R. No. 80, 5-25-70)

At least thirty-five days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year the city manager shall send to the council a careful estimate, in the form of a written budget, of the amounts, specifying in detail the objects thereof required during the next ensuing year for the business and proper conduct of the various departments, offices, boards and commissions of the city. The city manager shall also at said time submit to the council an estimate of the amount of income from fines, licenses, and other sources of revenue, exclusive of taxes upon property, and the probable amount required to be levied and raised by taxation.

After reviewing the proposed budget as submitted by the city manager and making such revisions as it may deem advisable, the council shall determine the time for holding of a public hearing upon, and shall cause a notice thereof to be published not less than ten days prior to said hearing by at least one insertion in the official newspaper of the city.

Copies of the proposed budget shall be available for inspection by the public at the office of the city clerk at least ten days prior to said hearing.

At the time so advertised or at any time to which such public hearing shall from time to time be adjourned, the council shall hold a public hearing on the proposed budget at which interested persons desiring to be heard shall be given such opportunity.

After the conclusion of the public hearing the council shall make any revisions of the proposed budget that it may deem advisable and on or before June 30, it shall adopt the budget. A copy thereof, certified by the city clerk, shall be filed with the person retained by the council to perform auditing functions for the council and a further copy shall be placed, and shall remain on file, in the office of the city clerk where it shall be available for public inspection. The budget so certified shall be reproduced and copies made available for the use of the public and of departments, offices and agencies of the city.

From the effective date of the budget, the several amounts stated therein as proposed expenditures shall be and become appropriated to the several departments, offices and agencies for the respective objects and purposes therein named. All appropriations shall lapse at the end of the fiscal year to the extent that they shall not have been expended or lawfully encumbered.

At any meeting after the adoption of the budget, the council may amend or supplement the budget by motion adopted by the affirmative vote of at least four members so as to authorize the transfer of unused balances appropriated for one purpose to another purpose or to appropriate available funds not included in the budget or to cancel any appropriation not expended or encumbered.

Under the control and direction of the city manager there shall be established a centralized purchasing system for all city departments and agencies, except as otherwise in this Charter provided.

The council shall employ, at the beginning of each fiscal year, an independent certified public accountant who shall, at such time or times as may be specified by the council, at least annually and at such other times as he may determine, examine the books, records, inventories and reports of all officers and employees who receive, handle or disburse public funds and all such other officers and employees and departments as the council may direct.

As soon as practicable after the end of the fiscal year, a final audit and report shall be submitted by such accountant to the council, one copy thereof to be distributed to each member, one to the director of finance, city manager and city attorney, respectively, and three additional copies to be placed on file in the office of the city clerk where they shall be available for inspection by the general public, and a copy of the financial statement as of the close of the fiscal year shall be published in the official newspaper.

Every project for the construction or improvement of public buildings, works, streets, drains, sewers, utilities, parks or playgrounds, and every purchase of supplies or materials for any such project, when the total expenditures required for the same exceed the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, shall be let by the council by contract to the lowest responsible bidder after notice by publication in the official newspaper by one or more insertions, the first of which shall be at least ten days before the time for opening bids. Projects for the maintenance or repair of streets, drains or sewers are excepted from the requirements of this section if the council determines that such work can be performed more economically by a city department than by contracting for the doing of such work.

All bids shall be accompanied by either a certified or cashier's check, or a bidder's bond executed by a corporate surety authorized to engage in such business in California, made payable to the city. Such security shall be in an amount not less than that specified in the notice inviting bids or in the specifications referred to therein, or if no amount be so specified then in an amount not less than ten percent of the aggregate amount of the bid. If the successful bidder neglects or refuses to enter into the contract, within the time specified in the notice inviting bids or in the specifications referred to therein, the amount of his bidder's security shall be declared forfeited to the city and shall be collected and paid into its general fund, and all bonds so forfeited shall be prosecuted and the amount thereof collected and paid into such fund.

The council may reject any and all bids presented and may readvertise in its discretion.

The council, without advertising for bids, or after rejecting bids, or if no bids are received, may declare and determine that, in its opinion, based on estimated approved by the city manager, the work in question may be performed better or more economically by the city with its own employees or the supplies or materials may be purchased more economically on the open market, and after the adoption of a resolution to this effect by at least five affirmative votes of the council may proceed to have said work done or said supplies or materials purchased in the manner stated, without further observance of the provisions of this section. Such contracts likewise may be left without advertising for bids, if such work or supplies or materials shall be deemed by the council to be of urgent necessity for the preservation of life, health or property, and shall be authorized by resolution passed by at least five affirmative votes of the council and containing a declaration of the facts constituting such urgency.

Projects for the extension or development of any public utility operated by the city or for the purchase of supplies or equipment for any such utility may be excepted from the requirements of this section, provided the council so determines by at least five affirmative votes. (Res. No. 12-12-06-3)

In the event that there is more than one newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the city, the council, annually, prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, shall publish a notice inviting bids and contracts for the publication of all legal notices or other matter required to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, during the ensuing fiscal year. In the event there is only one newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the city, then the council shall have the power to contract with such newspaper for the printing and publishing of such legal notices or matter without being required to advertise for bids therefore. The newspaper with which any such contract is made shall be designated the official newspaper for the publication of such notices or other matter for the period of such contract.

In no case shall the contract prices for such publication exceed the customary rates charged by such newspaper for the publication of legal notices of a private character.

In the event there is no newspaper of general circulation published and circulated in the city, then all legal notices or other matter may be published by posting copies thereof in at least three public places in the city.

No defect or irregularity in proceedings taken under this section, or failure to designate an official newspaper, shall invalidate any publication where the same is otherwise in conformity with this Charter or law or ordinance.

The city shall not incur an indebtedness evidenced by general obligation bonds which shall in the aggregate exceed the sum of fifteen percent of the total assessed valuation, for purposes of city taxation, of all the real and personal property within the city.

No bonded indebtedness which shall constitute a general obligation of the city may be created unless authorized by the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the electors voting on such proposition at any election at which the question is submitted to the electors and unless in full compliance with the provisions of the State Constitution and of this Charter. Bonds which are payable out of such revenues as may be specified in such bonds, may be issued when the council by ordinance shall have established a procedure for the issuance of such bonds. Such bonds, payable out of such revenues, shall not constitute an indebtedness of the city. No such bonds payable out of any revenues of the city or of any department thereof, shall be issued without the assent of a majority of the voters voting upon the proposition of issuing the same, at an election at which such proposition shall have been duly submitted to the qualified electors of the city.

All claims for damages against the city must be verified and presented to the city clerk within ninety days after the occurrence, event or transaction from which the damages allegedly arose, or within such shorter time as is otherwise provided by law, and shall set forth in detail the name and address of the claimant, the time, date, place and circumstances of the occurrence and the extent of the injuries or damages sustained. All such claims shall be approved or rejected in writing by order of the council and the date thereof given.

All other demands against the city must be in writing and may be in the form of a bill, invoice, payroll, or formal demand. Each such demand shall be presented to the director of finance within ninety days after the last item of the account or claim is accrued. The director of finance shall examine the same. If the amount thereof is legally due and there remains on his books an unexhausted balance of an appropriation against which the same may be charged, he shall approve such demand and draw his warrant on the city treasurer therefore, payable out of the proper fund. Otherwise he shall reject it. Objections of the director of finance may be overruled by the council and the warrant ordered drawn.

The director of finance shall transmit such demand, with his approval or rejection thereof endorsed thereon, and warrant, if any, to the city manager. If a demand is one for an item included within an approved budget appropriation, it shall require the approval of the city manager, otherwise it shall require the approval of the council, following the adoption by it of an amendment to the budget authorizing such payment. Any person dissatisfied with the refusal of the city manager to approve any demand, in whole or in part, may present the same to the council which, after examining into the matter, may approve or reject the demand in whole or in part.

Warrants on the city treasurer which are not paid for lack of funds shall be registered. All registered warrants shall be paid in the order of their registration when funds therefore are available and shall bear interest from the date of registration at such rate as shall be fixed by the council by resolution.

No suit shall be brought for money or damages against the city or any board, commission or other officer thereof until a claim or demand for the same has been rejected in whole or in part. If rejected in part, suit may be brought to recover the whole. Failure to complete action approving or rejecting any claim or demand within sixty days from the date the same is presented shall be deemed a rejection thereof.

The council may prescribe by ordinance rules and regulations for the purchasing of supplies, materials and equipment. When making purchases for the city, merchants maintaining an established place of business within the city shall be given the preference, quality and prices being equal.