Chapter 3.04
FINANCES
Sections:
3.04.050 Bills – Approval by board of trustees.
3.04.060 Payment by treasurer.
3.04.080 Expenditure of village funds.
3.04.010 Appropriations.
A. During the first quarter of each fiscal year, as required by statute, the president and board of trustees shall enact an appropriation ordinance in which shall be itemized all anticipated expenditures to be met during the coming year, other than those payable from bond issues.
B. This ordinance shall be published as required by law within ten days after its enactment.
3.04.020 Tax levy.
A. Not sooner than ten days after the publication of the appropriation ordinance, a tax levy ordinance shall be enacted, as required by law, levying such taxes as may be needed to meet the anticipated expenses of the coming year, together with such taxes as may be required to meet outstanding bond issues, or for purposes payable from special taxes properly authorized.
B. A certified copy of the tax levy ordinance shall be filed with the county clerk not later than the last Tuesday in December. Such ordinance shall show the total appropriated for each item, and the amount of tax levied therefor.
C. Unless specifically stated otherwise in an annual tax levy ordinance, the county clerk shall apply a loss and cost factor at a rate of twenty percent to all tax levies. (Ord. 2018-03 § 3, 2018; Ord. 2010-21 § 2, 2010)
3.04.030 Indebtedness.
No indebtedness shall be incurred, excepting such indebtedness as may be payable solely from the proceeds of a duly authorized bond issue or from a designated specified source, unless there is a prior appropriation out of which such indebtedness could be paid, as provided by statute; provided, that during the first quarter of any fiscal year, before the enactment of the current appropriation ordinance, the village may operate under the appropriation ordinance of the preceding year.
3.04.040 Contracts.
The village president, or any other person designated by the corporate authorities, may sign on behalf of the village any contract authorized by the corporate authorities. No contract may be entered into without the authority of the corporate authorities.
3.04.050 Bills – Approval by board of trustees.
All bills payable by the village other than for the payment of salaries established by the corporate authorities shall be submitted to the president and board of trustees for approval before payment.
3.04.060 Payment by treasurer.
The treasurer shall pay out money in payment of all bills, or for salaries, or for any other purpose other than the retirement of principal or interest on bonds or tax anticipation warrants only upon warrant signed by the president and the clerk as provided by statute. Such warrants shall designate the items to be paid and the funds from which they are to be paid.
3.04.070 Audit.
As soon as practicable at the close of each fiscal year, and no later than six months thereafter, there shall be an audit of all accounts of the village made by a competent person authorized to act as an auditor under the laws of Illinois, to be designated by the corporate authorities. Copies of such audit report shall be filed with the village clerk and with the Director of the State Department of Revenue and in such other places as may be required by law.
3.04.080 Expenditure of village funds.
A. Board Approval Needed. Consistent with 65 ILCS 5/3.1-40-40, all expenditures and/or appropriations of any village funds or action to create any liability against the village, including but not limited to the payment of debts, donations to charities, usage of tax increment financing (“TIF”) funds, or purchase of real or other property, shall require the concurrence of a majority of the corporate authorities prior to the expenditures, appropriations, or donations being made or the action being taken to create a liability against the village. This shall include the issuance of manual checks, usage of village credit cards, and any other action that may require the expenditure or appropriation of village funds or action taken that might create a liability against the village.
B. Manual Checks – Generally Prohibited. Manual checks include but are not limited to checks that are generated on paper that require a manual entry into a program to generate the check or that require the check to be handwritten. The issuance and usage of manual checks is hereby prohibited except as follows:
1. In the case of a bona fide emergency and even in those cases, the limit of the manual check shall be five thousand dollars. Any emergency manual check in excess of five thousand dollars must be approved by a majority of the board of trustees. Emergencies may include expenditures, appropriations, or donations related to natural disasters and federal, state or locally declared disaster areas or other emergencies as defined and approved by a majority of the board of trustees;
2. In the event of a substantial interruption of necessary village services or operations (for example, the repair of vital village equipment or facilities); or
3. In order to avoid substantial additional costs or legal liability. For example, the payment of wages and health insurance premiums shall be allowed by manual check if failure to pay certain wages and health insurance premiums would create a liability or additional cost to the village.
Unless one of the above stated allowances for manual checks exists, manual checks shall be prohibited.
C. Manual Check Procedures. In the event a manual check is used or issued, the party that issued the check, usually the director of finance, and the village employee or official that requested the check must sign a statement, swearing to one of the following:
1. The emergency nature of the expenditure, why it was an emergency, the amount of the expenditure, who the check was given to, and why that appropriation or expenditure could not wait until the next regular board meeting for approval;
2. The nature of the substantial interruption of necessary services or operations, why there was or may be the substantial interruption of necessary services or operations, and why that appropriation or expenditure could not wait until the next regular board meeting for approval;
3. The nature of the substantial additional costs or legal liability which is trying to be avoided, why there was or may be substantial additional costs or legal liability, and why that appropriation or expenditure could not wait until the next regular board meeting for approval.
The affidavit must be delivered to the village clerk as well as all of the village trustees then holding office on the day that the check is executed and the check will be held for twenty-four hours before it is released to the payee. If, within that twenty-four hours, two-thirds of the village trustees then holding office separately contact the director of finance, in writing, and state that it is their position that the emergency was not a true emergency and that the expenditure should not be made, then the director of finance shall not issue the manual check to the payee and the requested expenditure or appropriations shall then be placed on the agenda for the next regular board meeting, or properly called special meeting or emergency meeting, for approval or denial of the expenditure or appropriation. In some circumstances, the recipient of the manual check, or the appropriate party, may be invited to the meeting to disclose to the village trustees why they feel that the situation is or was an emergency.
D. Credit Cards. Under no circumstances may employees, elected officials, or village officers use the village credit card for personal expenses, regardless of whether or not the employee or officer later reimburses the village. Credit cards shall only be used for emergency purposes, in small dollar approved purchases (less than five hundred dollars), and for the purchase of goods or services where the vendor does not accept other forms of payments. All credit card uses or expenditures must be made in compliance with the village of Riverdale’s credit card use policy and procedure.
E. Contracts Creating Liability Against the Village Must Be Approved by a Majority of the Corporate Authorities. No contractor or subcontractor shall engage in business with the village with the expectation of payment for their services unless said contract for goods or services is approved by a concurrence of the majority of the corporate authorities.
F. Violations of This Section. Any violations of this section shall be subject to the following:
1. First offense: two hundred fifty dollars.
2. Second offense: five hundred dollars.
3. Third offense: seven hundred fifty dollars, plus seven days in jail as allowed under 65 ILCS 5/1-2-1.1.
Violations of this section will not be heard in the local adjudication system but instead shall be prosecuted by the village prosecutor in the circuit court of Cook County. Any complaints filed or made under this section shall be brought directly to the village prosecutor with a copy of said complaint sent to the village clerk and the chair of the finance committee. All violations brought to the attention of the village prosecutor, in writing, shall be shared with the president and the board of trustees within five days of receipt and must be prosecuted by the prosecutor and the prosecutor shall not have the authority to dismiss charges or reduce the above stated fine amounts without prior approval or action by a majority of the board of trustees. In the event that restitution is not ordered by the court, the village prosecutor is directed to pursue recovery of the misused or misappropriated funds through additional court action. (Ord. 2012-42 § 2, 2012)