CITY OF COON RAPIDS, MINNESOTA
CHAPTER 1-700
TAXATION AND FINANCES
1-701 Council to Control Finances. The Council shall have full authority
over the financial affairs of the City, and shall provide for the collection
of all revenues and other assets, the auditing and settlement of accounts,
and the safekeeping and disbursements of public moneys, and in the exercise
of a sound discretion, shall make appropriations for the payment of all
liabilities and expenses.
1-702 Fiscal Years. The fiscal year of the City shall be the calendar year.
1-703 System of Taxation. Subject to the State constitution and except as
forbidden by it or by State legislation, the Council shall have full power
to provide by ordinance for a system of local taxation. In the taxation of
real and personal property as such, the City shall conform as fully as
possible to the general State law as to the assessment of such property and
the collection of such taxes.
1-704 Board of Equalization. The Council shall constitute a Board of
Equalization to equalize assessments of property for taxation purposes
according to law.
1-705 Preparation of the Annual Budget. The City Manager shall prepare the
estimates for the annual budget in accordance with generally accepted
accounting procedures for municipal governments. The budget shall be by
funds and shall include all the funds of the City. The estimates of revenues
and expenditures for each fund budgeted, shall be arranged by program,
department, division, or activity of the City.
In parallel columns shall be shown comparable information for the past two
(2) completed fiscal years, and with respect to the current fiscal year, the
budget, actual expenditures, and receipts for the first six (6) months and
estimated expenditures and receipts for the balance of the year. All
increases and decreases shall be clearly shown. Such information shall be
printed or typewritten and copies shall be available to the public upon
request.
The budget shall be submitted to the Council not later than its first
regular monthly meeting in September or as set forth by State statute and
shall be made public. The City Manager may submit with the budget such
explanatory statement or statements as the City Manager may deem necessary.
[Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
1-706 Passage of the Budget. Not later than the first regular monthly
meeting of the Council in September, the Council shall establish dates for
public hearings on the budget. The meetings shall be conducted so as to give
interested citizens a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The City Manager
shall explain the various items thereof as fully as may be deemed necessary
by the Council. The annual budget finally agreed upon shall set forth in
detail the complete financial plan of the City for the ensuing fiscal year,
and shall be approved by the majority vote of the Council. The sums
appropriated shall not exceed the funds available for each fund. The Council
shall adopt the budget by resolution. The Council shall also adopt a
resolution levying whatever taxes it considers necessary within statutory
limits for the ensuing year for each fund. The tax levy resolution shall be
certified to the County office having responsibility to receive such
certificates. At the beginning of the fiscal year, the sums fixed in the
budget resolution shall be and become appropriated for the several purposes
named in the budget resolution and no other. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance
1459]
1-707 Enforcement of the Budget. It shall be the duty of the City Manager to
strictly enforce the provisions of the budget. The City Manager shall only
approve orders upon the City Treasury for expenditures for which an
appropriation has been made in the budget resolution and for which there is
a sufficient unexpended balance in the appropriated fund after deducting the
total past expenditures and the sum of all outstanding orders and
encumbrances against such fund. No officer or employee of the City shall
place any order or make any purchase except for a purpose and to the amount
authorized in the budget resolution. Any obligation incurred by any person
in the employ of the City for any purpose not authorized in the budget
resolution or for any amount in excess of the amount therein authorized
shall be a personal obligation upon the person incurring the expenditure.
[Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
1-708 Alterations in the Budget. Upon adoption of the budget resolution the
Council may increase the amounts fixed in the budget resolution only if and
to the extent that the actual revenues exceed the funds available. The
Council may at any time, by resolution approved by a majority of its
members, reduce the sums appropriated for any purpose by the budget
resolution. By a vote of four (4) members, the Council may authorize the
transfer of sums from unencumbered balances of appropriations in the budget
resolution to other purposes.
By a resolution approved by four (4) members, the Council may authorize the
expenditure of other unappropriated funds, known as unencumbered fund
balance; provided, however, that if the proposed expenditure for a single
purpose exceeds 20 percent of the fund balance, the Council shall, prior to
approving the expenditure, conduct a public hearing following published
notice given at least ten (10) days prior to the hearing. The public shall
be given the opportunity to be heard at the public hearing. [Revised 7/6/93,
Ordinance 1459]
1-709 Contingency Appropriation in Budget. The Council may include a
contingency appropriation as a part of the budget for each fund but not to
exceed five percent (5%) of the budget for such fund. A transfer from the
contingency appropriation to any other appropriation shall be made only by a
vote of at least four (4) members of the Council, and shall be used only for
the purposes designated by the Council.
1-710 Disbursements. No disbursement of the City funds, with the exception
of imprest funds, shall be made except by check signed by the City Manager
and Treasurer and specifying the purposes for which the disbursement is made
and the fund from which it is drawn. No such check shall be issued until the
claim to which it relates has been supported by an itemized bill, payroll,
or timesheet approved and signed by the responsible City officer who vouches
for its correctness and reasonableness. The City Manager shall note on each
contract requiring the payment of money by the City the particular fund out
of which it is to be paid. The Council may make further regulations for the
safekeeping and disbursement of the funds of the City. [Revised 7/6/93,
Ordinance 1459] [Revised 8/19/03, Ordinance 1811]
1-711 Funds to Be Kept. Subdivision 1. There shall be maintained in the City
Treasury the following funds:
(1) General Fund. To account for
all financial transactions not properly accounted for in any other fund.
Into this fund shall be paid all money not provided herein or by statute to
be paid into any other fund.
(2) Special Revenue Funds. To account for the proceeds of specific revenue
sources (other than special assessments) or to finance specified activities
as required by law or administrative regulation. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance
1459]
(3) Debt Service Funds. To account for the payment of interest and principal
on long-term debt other than revenue bonds. Into this fund shall be paid all
receipts from taxes or other sources for the payment of principal and
interest of all obligations issued by the City, except bonds payable from
special revenues, or proceeds of a municipally-owned utility. Out of this
fund shall be paid the principal and interest of such obligations when due.
Any surplus in such fund not needed immediately for debt service may be
invested under the direction of the Council in such securities as are
authorized by statute for the investment of such funds; and such investments
may be liquidated at any time. To the extent required by law, a separate
account in the debt service fund shall be maintained for each issue of City
obligations. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
(4) Capital Projects Funds.
(a) To account for the receipt and disbursement of monies used for the
acquisition of capital facilities. A separate account in the Capital
Projects Funds shall be kept for each capital project.
(b) A Special Assessment Fund shall be maintained within the Capital
Projects Funds to account for special assessments levied to finance public
improvements or services deemed to benefit the property against which the
assessments are levied. There shall be paid into this fund: (1) collections
of special assessments, with interest, levied against benefitted property;
(2) proceeds of bonds or warrants sold by the City to finance local
improvements to be paid for, in whole or in part by special assessments, and
the proceeds of interfund loans; (3) amounts from other City funds
representing either (a) apportionments of costs against the City at large,
(b) benefit assessments against City property, or (c) appropriations to
maintain the integrity of the fund. There shall be paid out of this fund:
(1) all expenses and costs of the improvement projects financed through the
fund; (2) the redemption of all special assessments fund obligations, with
interest, at or before maturity, and any interfund loans; and (3) abatements
of assessments and refunds of receipts in error. The Council shall maintain
the integrity of this fund by appropriations from tax funds if necessary,
and in addition may, by ordinance, create and maintain in the fund a cash
reserve sufficient for working capital purposes. In order to anticipate the
collection of special assessments and the municipal share of the cost of a
local improvement or improvements, the Council may, by a majority vote,
issue and sell obligations pledging the full faith and credit of the City,
or pledging only special assessments, in such amounts and maturities as it
may determine. Such obligations may be temporary obligations which mature
within three years from date of issue, payable before or at the end of their
term in whole or in part from the proceeds of issuance of definitive
obligations. If any temporary obligations are not paid at maturity, the City
may be required by the holders thereof, to issue in exchange therefor, on a
par-for-par basis, definitive obligations which shall bear interest at a
rate not to exceed State law, shall mature serially in such years and
amounts that they, together with other obligations payable from the special
assessment fund, can be paid when due from the budgeted receipts of the
fund, and shall be subject to redemption and prepayment on any interest
payment date. Such temporary obligations shall not be subject to the tax
levy requirement set forth in Minnesota Statutes Section 475.61, or any law
amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto. The aggregate amount of
obligations outstanding at any time shall not exceed the sum of the
following: (1) all assessments levied and uncollected; (2) cost of work in
progress to be financed in whole or in part by special assessments; (3) cash
on hand to pay for any obligations outstanding, and (4) the cash reserve for
working capital as previously determined by ordinance. In order that the
fund may be administered on a self-sustaining basis, all local improvement
projects financed through it shall, upon completion, be certified by the
City Manager as to total cost, which shall thereupon be apportioned by the
Council either as assessments against benefitted property or as amounts due
from other City funds. Amounts apportioned against other City funds shall be
due when installments of special assessments levied for the same project are
due, corresponding assessment rolls shall be charged interest as in the case
of assessments and shall be credited to the fund, with any interest due,
when collected. To the extent required by law, a tax for the City's share of
the cost shall be levied before any obligations against the fund are issued
and sold. When a local improvement to be financed wholly or partly from
special assessment is undertaken under any applicable statute, any provision
of this subdivision inconsistent with the statute shall not apply. [Revised
7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
(5) Enterprise Funds. To account for the financing of services to the
general public where all or most of the costs involved are paid in the form
of charges by users of such services. Into the fund shall be paid all monies
derived from the sale of obligations issued on account of such services and
all monies derived from the sale of such services and from the sale of
property used in connection with such services. There shall be paid out of
this fund the cost of purchase, construction, operation, maintenance, and
repair of such services including principal and interest on obligations
issued for such services. A separate account in the Enterprise Funds shall
be kept for each enterprise. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
(6) Internal Service Funds. To account for the financing on a
cost-reimbursement basis of goods or services provided by one department or
agency to other departments or agencies within the City. [Revised 7/6/93,
Ordinance 1459]
(7) Trust and Agency Funds. To account for assets held by the City as
trustee or agent for individuals, private organizations, and other
governmental units. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
1-712 Accounts and Reports. The City Manager shall be the chief accounting
officer of the City and of every branch thereof. The City Manager shall
submit to the Council a statement each month showing the amount of money in
the custody of the City Treasurer, the status of all funds, the amount spent
or chargeable against each of the annual budget allowances and the balances
left in each, and all the other information about the finances of the City
as the Council may require. Once each year, on or before the last day of
April, the City Manager shall submit a report to the Council covering the
entire financial operations of the City for the past year. This report shall
show: the actual receipt and expenditures, omitting duplications and stating
the cash balance at the beginning of the last fiscal year and at the close;
the total outlays for operating and maintenance, and the total capital
outlays, the condition of each of the funds; the total receipts by sources
and the total expenditures by general purposes; the total outstanding bonds
and debts of the City, when due, the amount of new bonds issued and the
amount redeemed, and the interest rate of each; the condition of all the
annual budget allowances; a statement of general fixed assets owned by the
City; and such further information as the City Manager deems advisable or
the Council requires. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
1-713 Power of Taxation. The City shall have, in addition to the powers of
this Charter expressly or impliedly granted, all the powers to raise money
by taxation pursuant to the laws of the State which are applicable to cities
of the class of which it may be a member from time to time, provided that
the amount of taxes levied against real and personal property within the
City for general City purposes shall not exceed the limitations as set forth
by State statute. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
1-714 City Indebtedness. Except as provided in Sections 1-713, 1-715, 1-716
and 1-717 no obligations shall be issued to pay current expenses, but the
Council may issue and sell obligations for any other municipal purpose in
accordance with law and within the limitations provided by law. Except in
the case of obligation for which an election is not required by this Charter
or by State law, no such obligation shall be issued and sold without the
approval of the majority of the voters of the City voting thereon at a
general or special election. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
1-715 Tax Anticipation Certificates. At any time after January 1 following
the making of an annual tax levy, the Council may issue certificates of
indebtedness in anticipation of the collection of taxes levied for any fund
not yet collected. The total amount of certificates issued against any fund
for any year with interest thereon until maturity shall not exceed 60
percent of the total current taxes for the fund uncollected at the time of
issuance. Such certificates shall be issued on such terms and conditions as
the Council may determine but they shall become due and payable not later
than the first day of April of the year following their issuance. The
proceeds of the tax levied for the fund against which tax anticipation
certificates are issued and the full faith and credit of the City shall be
irrevocably pledged for the redemption of the certificates in the order of
their issuance against the fund.
1-716 Emergency Debt Certificates. If in any year the receipts from taxes or
other sources should from unforeseen cause become insufficient for the
ordinary expenses of the City, or if any calamity or other public emergency
should subject the City to the necessity for making extraordinary
expenditures, the Council may, by ordinance, issue and sell on such terms
and in such manner as the Council determines emergency debt certificates to
run not to exceed two (2) years. A tax sufficient to pay principal and
interest on such certificates with the margin required by law shall be
levied as required by law. The ordinance authorizing an issue of such
emergency debt certificates shall state the nature of the emergency and be
approved by at least four (4) (Effective 01/01/94 will be five (5)) members
of the Council. It may be passed as an emergency ordinance. [Revised
02/23/93, Ordinance 1439]
1-717 Capital Improvement Bonds. The City Council may, by ordinance and
without an election, authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds. The
bonds shall be issued in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 475 of
the laws of Minnesota. The net proceeds of such bonds shall be used for the
acquisition of specific assets, which shall be itemized within the ordinance
authorizing such issuance, but shall not be used for the acquisition of
land, or automobiles, nor the construction of buildings or sidewalks, nor
the purchase of one (1) major item of equipment costing less than $10,000.
The term of such bonds shall be the expected life of the improvement or
asset to be acquired or five (5) years, whichever shall be the lesser. Bonds
of not more than four one hundredths of one percent (.04%) of the market
value of the property within the City in face value may be issued in one (1)
fiscal year. At the end of any fiscal year the net debt accumulated under
the provision shall not exceed fifteen hundredths of one percent (.15%) of
the market value of the property within the City. The Council may each year
levy a property tax in excess of any Charter or statutory limitations in an
amount sufficient to pay the costs of principal and interest payable upon
such bonds in the following year. [Revised 7/6/93, Ordinance 1459]
