CHAPTER 136

AN ACT to amend and reenact §§ 3.02 as amended, 8.05 as amended, 4.06,
8.08, 8.04 and 8.05 of Chapter 828 of the Acts of Assembly of 1950,
approved April 4, 1950, which provided a charter for the city of Falls
Church, the sections relating, respectively, to nomination of candi-
dates for council, election of certain city officers, rules of procedure
of the council, and the powers and duties of the director of finance,
the city treasurer and the commissioner of revenue. 9a

[S 128]

Approved February 28, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 3.02 as amended, 3.05 as amended, 4.06, 8.03, 8.04 and 8.05 of
Chapter 323 of the Acts of Assembly of 1950, approved April 4, 1950, be
amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3.02. Candidates for the office of councilmen may be nominated
by petition or under general law. There shall be printed on the ballots
used in the election of councilmen the names of all candidates who have
been so nominated. The requirements for nomination by petition shall be:

(a) Any qualified voter of the city may be nominated by filing, not
less than sixty days before such election, with the clerk of the circuit
court of the county of Fairfax and with the State Board of Elections a
petition signed by not less than * fifty qualified voters of the city; each
signature to such petition shall be witnessed by a person whose affidavit to
that effect is attached thereto, together with the notice of candidacy re-
quired by the general laws of the Commonwealth relating to elections.

(b) The petition shall state the name and address of the residence of
the person whose name is presented thereby as a candidate.

The requirements for nomination under general law shall be as therein
prescribed.

8 3.05. All other city officers except the office of city attorney re-
quired by the laws of the Commonwealth to be elected by the qualified
voters of the city shall be elected on the first Tuesday following the first
Monday in November preceding the expiration of the terms of office of
their respective predecessors, for such terms as are prescribed by law. All
such elective officers shall be nominated and elected as provided in the
general laws of the Commonwealth. A vacancy in the office of commis-
sioner of revenue, city treasurer, justice of the peace, * or city sergeant
shall be filled by the council by majority vote of all its members for the
interim period until a successor is elected at the next general election and
takes office, as is provided in the Code of Virginia. The officers so elected or
appointed shall qualify in the mode prescribed by law and shall continue
in office until their successors are elected and qualified.
_ § 4.06. The council shall have power, subject to the provisions of
this charter, to adopt its own rules of procedure. Such rules shall provide
for the time and place of holding regular meetings of the council which
shall be not less frequently than once in each month. They shall also
provide for the calling of special meetings by the mayor, the city manager
or any two members of the council, and shall prescribe the method of
giving notice thereof, provided that the notice of each special meeting
shall contain a statement of the specific item or items of business to be
transacted and no other business shall be transacted at such meeting
except by the unanimous consent of all the members of the council, unless
otherwise provided for in this charter.

§ 8.038. The director of finance shall have general management and
control of the functions of the department. He shall appoint and remove,
subject to the provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter, all officers and em-
ployees of the department, excepting Constitutional officers, and shall have
power to make rules and regulations consistent with this charter and the
ordinances of the city for the conduct of its business. He shall have
charge, subject to the direction and control of the city manager, of the
administration of the financial affairs of the city, except those of the school
board, unless specified in this chapter, and to that end shall have authority
and be required to:

(a) Compile the departmental estimates and other data necessary or
useful to the city manager in the preparation of the current expense and
capital budgets.

(b) Supervise and control all encumbrances, expenditures and dis-
bursements to insure that budget appropriations are not exceeded.

(c) Maintain a general accounting system for the city government
and each of its departments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies, in
conformity with the best recognized practices in governmental accounting;
and encumber each item of appropriation and the allotments thereof with
the amount of each purchase order, payroll or contract which he has ap-
proved, dncluding each advance authorization as provided in subsection (f)
of § 8.03.

(d) Prescribe the form of receipts, vouchers, bills or claims to be
used, and of accounts to be kept by all departments, boards, commissions,
offices and agencies of the city, provided that in so doing he shall consult
with any officer appointed by the council for the purpose.

(e) Require daily, or at such other intervals as he may deem expedient,
a report of receipts from each of such departments, boards, commissions,
offices and agencies, and prescribe the times at and the manner in which
moneys received by them shall be paid to the office of the director of
finance or deposited in a city bank account under the control of the city
treasurer.

(f) Examine all contracts, purchase orders and other documents,
except bonds and notes authorized as provided in Chapter 7, which create
financial obligations against the city and approve the same only upon
ascertaining that money has been appropriated and allotted therefor and
that an unexpended and unencumbered balance is available in such appro-
priation and allotment to meet the same, provided that the director of
finance may give advance authorization for the expenditure from any ap-
propriation for the purchase of supplies, materials or equipment of such
sum, within the current allotment of such appropriation, as he may deem
necessary during a period of not to exceed three months for the purchase
of items not to exceed in cost twenty-five dollars for any one item, and im-
mediately encumber such appropriation with the amount of such advance
authorization, and thereafter, within the period specified, purchase orders
for such items, to an aggregate not exceeding such authorization, shall be
valid without the prior approval of the director of finance endorsed there-
on, but each such purchase order shall be charged against such authoriza-
tion and no such purchase order, which, together with all such purchase
orders previously charged within the period specified, shall exceed the
amount of such authorization, shall be valid.

(g) Audit before payment, for legality and correctness, all accounts,
claims and demands against the city, and no money shall be drawn from
any bank account of the city or school board except by warrant or check,
signed by the director of finance, based upon a voucher duly approved by
him as above provided.

se 2

(j) Submit to the city manager for presentation to the council not
later than the tenth day of each month, a statement concerning the
financial transactions of the city and each utility respectively, prepared in
accordance with accepted principles of municipal accounting and budgetary
procedure, and showing: (1) the amount of each appropriation with
transfers to and from the same, the allotments thereof to the end of the
preceding month, the encumbrances and expenditures charged against
such appropriation and the allotments thereof during the preceding
month, the total of such charges for the fiscal year to the end of the
preceding month, and the unencumbered balance remaining in such ap-
propriation and the allotments thereof; (2) the revenue estimated to be
received from each source, the actual receipts from each source for the
preceding months, the total receipts from each source for the fiscal year
to the end of the preceding month, and the balance remaining to be
collected.

(k) Furnish to the head of each department, court, board, commission,
office and agency of the city a copy of that portion of the statement re-
lating to such department, court, board, commission, office and agency of
the city a copy of that portion of the statement relating to such depart-
ment, court, board, commission, office or agency.

(1) Prepare and submit to the city manager at the end of each fiscal
year, for the preceding year, a complete financial statement and report of
the financial transactions of the city.

(m) Protect the interests of the city by withholding the payment of
any claim or demand by any person, firm or corporation against the city
until any indebtedness or other liability due from such person, firm or
corporation shall first have been settled and adjusted.

$ 8.04. The city treasurer shall, subject to the supervision of the

i r of finance, collect and receive all moneys due the city for taxes
whether current or delinquent, assessments or fees or charges of every
kind except that the council may by ordinance provide for the collection of
charges for the use of water and sanitary sewers, by some officer or agency
and except as otherwise provided by this charter or the general laws of the
Commonwealth as the same may relate to the city. In so doing, he shall
have power to employ any procedure that is now or may hereafter be
prescribed by law for the collection of State taxes or local taxes. There
shall be a lien, which shall have precedence over any other lien or encum-
brance thereon, on all real estate and on each and every interest therein,
for the city taxes assessed thereon, from the commencement of the year
for which they are assessed, including penalties and interest on such taxes,
which may be enforced by the city treasurer on behalf of the city in any
manner provided by law. All goods and chattels wheresoever found may
be distrained and sold for taxes, interest and penalties assessed and due
thereon and for taxes, interest and penalties assessed against the owner
thereof, and no deed of trust or mortgage upon goods or chattels shall pre-
vent the same from being distrained and sold for taxes or levies 2sse
against the grantor in such deed while such goods and chattels remain in
the grantor’s possession; nor shall any such deed prevent the goods and
chattels conveyed from being distrained and sold for taxes or levies
assessed thereon, no matter in whose possession they may be found. He
shall have power to enforce the provisions of this charter and the ordi-
nances of the city with regard to licenses and license taxes, to check any
or all of records of the commissioner of revenue and to examine and audit
the books of all persons, firms and corporations whom he has reasonable
cause to believe to be liable to pay a license. He shall have custody of all
funds belonging to the city and the school board and deposit all funds
coming into his hands to the account of the city or the school board, as the
case may be, in such banks as may be designated for the purpose by the
council and the school board, respectively, subject to the laws of the Com-
monwealth applicable to the city and school board relative to the deposit of
public funds. He shall perform such other duties, including validating of
school board warrants or checks, have such powers and be liable to such
penalties as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by law or ordinance.
He shall have custody of all investments and invested funds of the city or
in its possession in a fiduciary capacity, unless otherwise provided by this
charter or by law, ordinance or the terms of any trust, and the safekeeping
of all bonds and notes of the city and the receipt and delivery of city bonds
and notes for transfer, registration and exchange. For such services, the
city treasurer shall receive such compensation as the council may from
time to time prescribe by ordinance.

§ 8.05. The commissioner of revenue shall perform such duties not
inconsistent with the laws of the Commonwealth in relation to the assess-
ment of property and licenses as may be required by the council for the
purpose of levying city taxes and licenses. He shall have power to
administer such oaths as may be required by the council in the assessment
of license taxes or other taxes for the city. He shall make such reports
in regard to the assessment of both property and licenses, or either, as may
be required by the council or by the director of finance. The council may
by ordinance require that all tax bills shall be made out by the commis-
sioner of revenue and delivered in such manner as said ordinance may
prescribe. The Commissioner of revenue shall supervise and be responsi-
ble for provision of tax maps, property descriptions and such other in-
formation as may be necessary for taxation within the city. For all such
services, the said commissioner of revenue shall receive such compensation
as the council may, from time to time, prescribe by ordinance. *

An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.