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City Attorney Reviews Charter Sections on Budget, Appropriations, Audits and Elections
Summary
City Attorney Bernadette Norris Weeks summarized several sections of the city charter covering annual budget adoption, fiscal year dates, supplemental appropriations and elections, and noted areas staff may recommend updating — including whether budgets should be adopted by ordinance or by resolution.
Bernadette Norris Weeks, city attorney, led the Charter Review Board through chapters of the Opelika city charter that address municipal finance, recordkeeping and elections, summarizing sections 4.5 through 5.1 and flagging language staff may recommend for revision.
Weeks said the charter "requires that each annual budget adopted by the commission has to be, in accordance with Florida law," and noted the charter specifies that the commission must adopt an annual budget by ordinance "on or before the September of each year" because the city's fiscal year runs to Sept. 30. She told the board the fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
Weeks summarized the charter's provisions on supplemental appropriations (section 4.7), noting the charter allows the commission, by ordinance, to make supplemental appropriations when revenues exceed the estimates in the annual budget. She also summarized the charter language on reductions of appropriations and the city manager's duty to report projected shortfalls in writing and to recommend remedial actions.
On the process for adopting a budget, Weeks told members that many cities adopt a budget by resolution rather than ordinance because ordinance adoption typically requires two readings and can be cumbersome; she said staff would present recommendations to the board on that issue later. She also reviewed section 4.8 about authentication and recordkeeping: the mayor and city clerk must authenticate ordinances and resolutions with signatures, the city clerk is charged with maintaining indexed records of all ordinances and resolutions, and the charter contemplates periodic codification through a provider such as Municode.
Weeks recited the charter's tax and fee powers (section 4.9), including the right to levy fines, ad valorem taxes, special assessments, excise and franchise taxes, and taxes on services and utilities. She summarized the charter requirement for an annual independent audit and cited section 4.11, which states the city "shall incur no debt unless the incurrence of such debt is approved by a majority of the commission."
Weeks closed the charter review segment with a summary of elections provisions in section 5.1: regular municipal elections are set for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year; special elections may be ordered; and the charter currently places municipal election supervision with the city clerk. She cautioned that charter language may be older than current practice and can be made consistent with Florida law and the county supervisor of elections when necessary.
No formal charter amendments or votes were recorded during this segment; the session was a staff-led review and discussion, with staff expected to return with recommended language changes and options.
