CHAPTER 280
An Act to amend and reenact § 5.04, as amended, of Chapter 717 of the Acts of Assembly of 1980, which provided a charter for the City of Chesapeake, relating to operating budget; reserves.
[H 454]
Approved April 8, 2022
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 5.04, as amended, of Chapter 717 of the Acts of Assembly of 1980 is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 5.04. Operating budget preparation.
The budget shall provide a financial plan for the ensuing
fiscal year, and shall be in such form as the manager deems advisable or
the council may require. A minimum of six percent of the total general fund
revenue shall be reserved upon the adoption of the city's annual operating
budget and shall be restricted for emergency use and cash flow needs which
occur throughout the year. In organizing the budget, the manager shall
utilize the most feasible combination of expenditures classification by fund,
organization unit, program, purpose or activity and object. It shall be
prepared in accordance with generally accepted principles of municipal
accounting and budgeting procedures and techniques. It shall be the duty of the
head of each department, the judges of the courts not of record or commission,
including the school board, and each other office or agency supported in whole
or in part by the city, to file at such time as the city manager may prescribe
estimates of revenue and expenditures for that department, court, board,
commission, office or agency for the ensuing fiscal year. The city manager
shall hold such hearings as deemed advisable and shall review the estimates and
other data pertinent to the preparation of the budget and make such revisions
in such estimates as deemed proper, subject to the laws of the Commonwealth
relating to the obligatory expenditures for any purpose, except that in the
case of the school board may recommend a revision only in its total estimated
resources and requirements. In no event shall the requirements recommended by
the city manager in the budget exceed the resources estimated, taking into
account the estimated cash surplus or deficit at the end of the current fiscal
year, unless the city manager shall recommend an increase in the rate of ad
valorem taxes on real estate and tangible personal property or other new or
increased fees, charges, or taxes or licenses within the power of the city to
levy and collect in the ensuing year, the revenue from which, estimated on the
average experience with the same or similar taxes during the three tax years
last past will make up the difference. If estimated resources exceed estimated
requirements, the city manager may recommend revisions in the tax and license
ordinances of the city in order to bring the budget into balance.
At the same time that the city manager submits the operating budget, the city manager shall introduce and recommend to the council an appropriation ordinance which shall be based on the budget. The city manager shall also introduce at the same time any ordinances levying a new tax or altering the rate on any existing tax necessary to balance the budget as provided in this section.