An Act to amend and reenact § 46.1-299, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to devices signalling intention to turn or stop and rules therefor.
Volume 1968 Law 99
Volume | 1954 |
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Law Number | 64 |
Subjects |
Law Body
CHAPTER 64
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 4.01, 5.18, 6.13, 6.21, 8.09, 12.08, 13.06,
13.07, 138.09 and 17.20 of Chapter 116 of the Acts of the General
Assembly of 1948, providing a new charter for the city of Rich-
mond, and to amend and reenact §§ 6.19 and 6.20 of said chapter,
as amended by Chapter 251 of the Acts of the General Assembly of
Virginia of 1950, and to amend said Chapter 116 of the Acts of
the General Assembly of 1948 by adding a section numbered § 13.07.1
thereto, relating to the compensation of the mayor; the power
of the council to assign the function of maintaining sewers, drains
and culverts and maintaining and operating sewage disposal plants
to the department of public utilities; water, gas and electric utility
budgets; the reserve fund for permanent public improvements; the
auditor of municipal accounts; the qualifications for the office of
director of public works; the conduct of the water, gas and electric
utilities; the water, gas and electric renewal funds; changes in water,
gas and electric utility rates; the power of the board of zoning appeals
with respect to the location of wireless and radio towers and stations;
the capital budget; the certification of available funds before dis-
bursement thereof; and the transfer of water, gas and electric utility
surpluses.
[H 1]
Approved February 27, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 4.01, 5.13, 6.18, 6.21, 8.09, 12.03, 13.06, 13.07, 13.09 and
17.20 of Chapter 116 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1948, and
§§ 6.19 and 6.20 of said Chapter, as amended by Chapter 251 of the Acts of
the General Assembly of 1950, be amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 4.01. Composition. The council shall coysist of nine members
elected as provided in chapter 3. * The members thereof, except the mayor,
shall receive in full compensation for their services the sum of one hundred
dollars per month. * Effective July one, nineteen hundred fifty-four, and
thereafter until otherwise provided by law the mayor shall receive in full
compensation for his services the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars per
month. The members of the council shall not be entitled to any other allow-
ance of any kind except that the mayor or vice-mayor when acting as
mayor, subject to the approval of the council, may be allowed his actual
expenses incurred in representing the city. No member of the council
shall during the term for which he was elected and one year thereafter be
appointed to any office of profit under the government of the city.
§ 5.18. Power of Council to Assign Budget Bureau and Bureau of
Purchasing to Department of Finance and to Assign Function of Main-
taining Sewers, Drains and Culverts and Maintaining and Operating Sew-
age Disposal Plants to Department of Public Utilities. The budget bureau
and the bureau of purchasing, or either of them, may, on the recommenda-
tion of the city manager, be assigned by the council by ordinance to the
department of finance, with like effect as if they had been established in
that department by this charter. The function of maintaining sewers,
drains and culverts and maintaining and operating sewage disposal plants,
may, on the recommendation of the city manager, be transferred from the
department of public works and assigned by the council by ordinance to the
department of public utilities, with like effect as if such function had been
established in that department by this charter.
§ 6.13. Utility Budgets. Separate budget estimates for each of the
utilities as defined in Chapter 13 of this charter shall be submitted to the
budget officer at the same time as the budgets of other departments and
in the form prescribed by the city manager, subject, however, to the pro-
visions of Chapter 13 which shall also control the action of the city manager
and council thereon. * The city manager shall submit with the budget of
each utility an ordinance making appropriations for the operation of such
utility during the ensuing fiscal year, which need not be itemized further
than by principal objects of expenditure. He shall also at the same time
submit any ordinance changing the rates to be charged by the utility, used
in estimating receipts. The council shall have the same powers and be
subject to the same limitations with regard to the adoption of such utility
budgets and accompanying appropriation and rate ordinances, subject to
the provisions of the said Chapter 13, as are conferred or imposed on it by
Section 6.10 with regard to the general fund budget and its accompanying
appropriation and revenue ordinances. If for any reason the council fails
to adopt the utility budgets or any of them before the expiration of the
time set for the adoption of the general fund budget such budget or budgets
and the accompanying appropriation ordinance or ordinances and the
ordinances changing rates, if any, shall have full force and effect to the
same extent as if the same had been adopted by the council, notwithstand-
ing anything to the contrary in this charter. When such utility budgets
and accompanying appropriation ordinances are adopted or become effec-
tive because of the council’s failure to act thereon they shall be certified
to the director of finance with like effect as in the case of the general fund
budget and its appropriation ordinance.
§ 6.21. Reserve for Permanent Public Improvements. The council
may by ordinance establish a reserve fund for permanent public improve-
ments and may appropriate thereto any portion of the general fund cash
surplus not otherwise appropriated at the close of any fiscal year. It may
likewise assign to the said fund a specified portion of the ad valorem tax
on real estate and tangible personal property not to exceed ten cents on
the hundred dollars of the assessed valuation thereof or the whole or part
of the proceeds of any other tax or other source of revenue. Appropria-
tions from the said fund shall be made only to finance improvements
included in the capital budget.
§ 8.0 Auditor of Municipal Accounts. There shall be an auditor
of municipal accounts who shall be appointed by the council for an indefi-
nite term. He shall have been certified as a certified public accountant by
the State board of accountancy and shall be qualified by training and
experience for the duties of his office. It shall be his duty to examine and
audit all accounts, books and records * of the city * that reflect transac-
tions involving financial activities and affairs of the city, including those
for which the city has a responsibility as an agent, custodian or trustee,
but he may exclude such accounts as are audited by the auditor of public
accounts of the Commonwealth *. It shall be his duty to make * an audit
annually of the books and records comprising the accounting system main-
tained in the office of the department of finance that reflect the fiscal
affairs of the city. The audit shall be of sufficient scope for him to
express an opinion as to whether the books and records and the financial
statements prepared therefrom as contained in the annual report of the
director of finance present fairly the fiscal affairs of the city in accordance
with generally accepted principles of municipal accounting and applicable
governing laws; the opinion may be given subject to any necessary qualifi-
cations for audits not made by him in the same year of the accounts and
records of other departments and agencies beyond the proving of thetr
transactions with the department of finance. He shall report annually to
the council within one hundred and twenty days after close of each fiscal
year on his audit of the office of director of finance for that fiscal year
and the report shall contain his opinion covering matters described above
together with comments respecting exceptions and recommendations, if
any, and, if deemed desirable, also respecting the fiscal affairs of the city
as reflected by the annual published report of the director of finance. He
shall make * examinations and audits of the accounts, books and records
of other departments* and agencies subject to examination and audit *
at least once in every three consecutive years and upon completion of each
such examination or audit shall file with the council a report thereof in
writing * and copies of the report shall be transmitted to the city manager
and to the department or agency covered thereby. If he shall at any time
discover any unauthorized, illegal, irregular or unsound practice, he shall
forthwith lay such facts before the city manager and council. In per-
forming his duties he shall have access at any and all times to all books,
records and accounts of each department * and agency * subject to exami-
nation and audit by him. He shall have power to appoint, subject to the
provisions of Chapter 9 of this charter, such accountants and other assist-
ants as, within the limits of the appropriation therefor, may be necessary
in his opinion for the performance of his duties. A copy of each * report
made to the council by the auditor of municipal accounts shall always be
available for public inspection in the office of the city clerk during regular
business hours. ,
§ 12.03. Director of Public Works—Qualifications. The head of the
department of public works shall be the director of public works. He shall
be a graduate of a * school of collegiate grade, * and shall have had at
least five years experience in highway or public works administration.
§ 13.06. Each Utility a Separate Enterprise. The water, gas and
electric. utilities shall each be conducted as a separate enterprise, provided
that nothing herein shall prevent the transfer of employees from one
utility to another or the division of the time of any officer or employee
between two or more of such utilities. To facilitate accurate analysis of
the financial results of the operation of each utility:
(a) The bureau of billing and collection shall bill for and collect on
behalf of each utility not only the charges due from domestic, commercial
and industrial users of its services but similar charges against the city
and each department, board, commission, office and agency thereof, includ-
ing the school board and each other utility. The rates to be charged the
city and its departments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies, as
above provided, for water and gas shall be the same as those charged to
other customers, except that the charges to be made for the use of water
for fire protection shall be in the form of an annual rental, to be paid by
the department of safety, for each fire hydrant based on the proportion
of the valuation of the water utility properly allocable to fire protection as
determined by the valuation hereinafter provided. The rates to be charged
for street lighting and for electric current furnished to the city and its
departments, boards, commissions, offices and agencies shall be fixed by
the director of public utilities as nearly as possible in accordance with the
rates approved by the State Corporation Commission to be charged by
privately operated utilities for services of like kind and quantity furnished
to other Virginia municipalities.
(b) Separate budgets shall be prepared for each utility annually at
the time and in the manner prescribed in chapter 6 of this charter, which
shall include estimates of * revenue and * expense for the ensuing fiscal
year. * After the budget of a utility has been adopted, should it appear
that substantial sales of the unit product of the utility can be made in
excess of the sales of the unit product contemplated by the budget which
were not reasonably foreseen at the time the estimates of revenue and
expense were made, additional expenditures may be authorized by the city
manager from the funds of the utility in an amount not exceeding the
estimated cost of producing or purchasing additional units of the product
of the utility to be sold upon the justification of such expenditure by and
recommendation of the director of public utilities. The city manager shall
report to the council as soon as practicable any such additional expendi-
tures authorized by him and shall also report any such additional expendi-
tures to the director of finance, who shall adjust the appropriation accounts
accordingly. The expenditure of any other funds of any utility shall be
authorized only when an additional appropriation thereof is made in
accordance with section 6.17 of this charter. The budget estimates of each
department of the city shall include items for gas, water and electric
current to be used by them. An item for street lighting shall be included
in the general fund budget and shall be disbursed by the director of finance
on the basis of bills rendered by the bureau of billing and collection.
(c) * The accounting system of each utility shall conform to generally
accepted principles of public utility accounting and shall be kept on an
accrual basis. Expenditures shall be authorized and made in accordance
with appropriations made by the council and in accordance with the provt-
sions of chapters 6, 8 and 18 of this charter. The records of revenues of
each utility shall be kept so that the sales made to each class of customer
according to the rate schedules adopted by the council for each utility can
be obtained. After the close of each fiscal year there shall be submitted
to the city manager and the council a report as to the operation of each
utility containing at least the following financial statements: (1) a com-
parative balance sheet showing the financial condition of the utility as of
the beginning and close of the fiscal year and an analysis of the surplus
account showing the factors of change in the account as reflected by the
comparative balance sheet; (2) a comparative profit and loss statement
of the last two fiscal years; and a comparative detailed analysis of oper-
ating expense for the last two fiscal years according to functional grouping.
The expense of operating each utility shall include: (1) taxes, if any,
lawfully accruing during the fiscal year; and (2) taxes not actually accru-
ing but which would have accrued had the utility not been municipally
owned, and such taxes shall be paid annually into the general fund. For
the purposes of this chapter all indebtedness of the city incurred on
read each utility shall be considered as the indebtedness of such
§ 13.07. * Utility Renewal Funds. A renewal fund for each utility
shall be established to be known as the “water utility renewal fund”, the
“gas utility renewal fund” and the “electric utility renewal fund” respec-
tively. There shall be paid annually into the respective renewal funds from
the operating cash of each utility the amount that depreciation, estimated
for the year at the rates determined by the valuation thereof required to
be made by section 18.08 of this charter, and computed in accordance with
generally accepted principles of public utility accounting, exceeds the prin-
cipal on the outstanding debt incurred on account of the utility payable
during the year. Appropriations may be made by the council from the
renewal fund of any utility, on the recommendation of the city manager,
only for renewing, rebuilding or extending the plant and distribution
system of such utility. When any utility has accumulated operating cash
in excess of the operating needs of such utility, transfers may be
from the operating cash of the utility to the renewal fund cash of the
utility by the council by not less than six affirmative votes, upon the
recommendation of the city manager.
§ 13.09. Changes in Rates. The rates to be charged for the respec-
tive services of the water and gas utilities and for the sale of any excess
of electric current beyond the needs of the city and its departments,
boards, commissions and agencies shall be fixed from time to time by the
council on the recommendation of the director of public utilities and the
city manager. If for any three consecutive fiscal years * any utility shall
operate at a net loss as shown by its annual statement of profit and loss,
it shall be the duty of the director of public utilities and the city manager
to recommend and the council to adopt for that utility a schedule of rates
which in its judgment will produce * revenue at least equal to expense.
17.20. Powers of Board of Zoning Appeals. The board shall have
the following powers and it shall be its duty:
(a) To hear and decide appeals where it is alleged there is error in
any order, requirement, decision or determination by the administrative
officer in the administration and enforcement of the provisions of the
ordinance.
(b) To grant variations in the regulations when a property owner
can show that his property was acquired in good faith and where by
reason of the exceptional narrowness, shallowness or shape of a specific
piece of property at the time of the effective date of the ordinance or
where by reason of the exceptional topographical conditions or other
extraordinary or exceptional situation the strict application of the terms
of the ordinance actually prohibit or unreasonably restrict the use of the
property, or where the board is satisfied, upon the evidence heard by it,
the granting of such variation will alleviate a clearly demonstrable hard-
ship approaching confiscation as distinguished from a special privilege
or convenience sought by the owner, provided, however, that all varia-
tions granted shall be in harmony with the intended spirit and purpose
of this chapter and the ordinance.
(c) To permit, when reasonably necessary in the public interest, the
use of land, or the construction or use of buildings or structures, in any
district in which they are prohibited by the ordinance, by any agency of
the city, county or state or the United States, provided such construction
or use shall adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare of the
occupants of the adjoining and surrounding property, shall not unreason-
ably impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent property, shall
not increase congestion in streets and shall not increase public danger
from fire or otherwise affect public safety.
(d) To permit the following exceptions to the district regulations
and restrictions, provided such exceptions shall by their design, construc-
tion and operation adequately safeguard the health, safety and welfare
of the occupants of the adjoining and surrounding property, shall not
unreasonably impair an adequate supply of light and air to adjacent
property, shall not increase congestion in streets and shall not increase
public danger from fire or otherwise unreasonably affect public safety
and shall not diminish or impair the established property values in sur-
rounding areas:
(1) Use of land or erection or use of a building or structure by a
public service corporation for public utility purposes exclusively which
the ppoard finds to be reasonably necessary for the public convenience and
welfare.
(2) Extension of a district where the boundary line of a district
divides a lot in single ownership as shown of record at the time of the
effective date of the ordinance.
(3) Use of land or construction or use of buildings and structures
in any district in which they are prohibited by the ordinance, by educa-
tional, religious, philanthropic or eleemosynary institutions; the use of
land or construction or use of buildings and structures in any district in
which they are prohibited by the ordinance, for cemetery purposes, air-
ports or landing fields, greenhouses and nurseries * and the extraction
of raw materials from land, such as rock, gravel, sand and similar
products.
(4) Use of land in dwelling districts immediately adjoining or sepa-
rated from business, commercial or industrial districts by alleys, or widths
to be specified in the ordinance, for parking of vehicles of customers of
business, commercial or industrial establishments, provided such use shall
not extend more than the distance specified in the ordinance from the
business, commercial or industrial district.
(5) Use of buildings for dwelling purposes in districts specified in
the ordinance for use for other purposes, where it can be shown that
conditions in the specified districts are not detrimental to the health,
safety, or welfare of the inhabitants of such buildings and on condition
that the buildings will be removed within a time specified in the ordinance.
(6) Reconstruction of buildings or structures that do not conform
to the comprehensive zoning plan and regulations and restrictions pre-
scribed for the district in which they are located, which have been
damaged by explosion, fire, act of God or the public enemy, to the extent
of more than sixty per cent of their assessed taxable value, when the
board finds some compelling public necessity for a continuance of the use
and such continuance is not primarily to continue a monopoly, provided
that nothing herein shall relieve the owner of any such building or struc-
ture from obtaining the approval of such reconstruction by the council
or any department or officer of the city when such approval is required
by any law or ordinance.
(e) To modify the interpretation and application of the provisions
of the ordinance where the street layout actually on the ground varies
from the street layout as shown on the map fixing the districts and their
boundaries adopted with and as a part of the ordinance.
§ 6.19. Capital Budget. At the same time that he submits the
current expense budgets the city manager shall submit to the council a
program previously acted upon by the city planning commission, as pro-
vided in Chapter 17 of this charter, of proposed capital improvement
projects, for the ensuing fiscal year and for the four fiscal years there-
after, with his recommendations as to the means of financing the improve-
ments proposed for the ensuing fiscal year. The council shall have power
to accept with or without amendments or reject the proposed program
and proposed means of financing of the ensuing fiscal year; and may
from time to time during the fiscal year amend by ordinance adopted by
at least six affirmative votes the program previously adopted by it or the
means of financing the whole or any part thereof or both, provided that
the amendment shall have been recommended by the city manager and
the city planning commission shall have reported thereon to the council
and such additional funds as may be required to finance the cost of the
improvements are available in the general fund or in the reserve fund
for permanent public improvements or in the water works, gas works
or electric works renewal funds. The council shall adopt a capital budget
prior to the beginning of the fiscal year in which the budget is to take
effect. No appropriation provided for a capital improvement * purpose *
defined in the capital budget shall lapse until the purpose for which the
appropriation was made shall have been accomplished or abandoned,
provided the Council shall have the power to transfer at any time any
appropriation or any unencumbered part thereof from one purpose to
another on the recommendation of the city manager. The city manager
may transfer the balance remaining to the credit of any completed project
to an incompleted project for the purpose of completing such project,
provided the projects have been approved in the adoption of a camtal
budget or budgets and are within the same general purposes for which
appropriations were made to finance the cost of such projects. If no such
transfers are made, the balances remaining to the credit of completed or
abandoned purposes and projects shall be available for appropriation and
allocation in a subsequent capital budget or budgets. * Any project shall
be deemed to have been abandoned if three fiscal years elapse without any
expenditure from or encumbrance of the * funds provided therefor. *
§ 6.20. Certification of funds, penalties for violation. Except as
otherwise provided in § 18.06 of this charter, no payment shall be made
and no obligation incurred by or on behalf of the city or the school board
except in accordance with an appropriation duly made and no payment
shall be made from or obligation incurred against any allotment or appro-
priation unless the director of finance shall first certify that there is a
sufficient unexpended and unencumbered balance in such allotment or
appropriation to meet the same; provided that nothing herein shall be
taken to prevent the advance authorization of expenditures for small pur-
chases as provided in subsection (e) of § 8.03 of this charter. Every
expenditure or obligation authorized or incurred in violation of the pro-
visions of this charter shall be void. Every payment made in violation of
the provisions of this charter shall be deemed illegal and every official
who shall knowingly authorize or make such payment or knowingly take
part therein and every person who shall knowingly receive such payment
or any part thereof shall be jointly and severally liable to the city for
the full amount so paid or received. If any officer, member of a board or
commission, or employee of the city or of the school board, shall know-
ingly incur any obligation or shall authorize or make any expenditure
in violation of the provisions of this charter or knowingly take part
therein such action shall be cause for his removal. Nothing in this section
contained, however, shall prevent the making of contracts of lease or for
services providing for the payment of funds at a time beyond the fiscal
year in which such contracts are made, provided the nature of such
transactions will reasonably require, in the opinion of the council, the
making of such contracts.
2. That Chapter 116 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1948 be
amended by adding thereto a section numbered § 13.07.1 as follows:
§ 18.07.1—Transfer of Utility Surpluses. The council may, in its
discretion, by not less than six affirmative votes, transfer to the general
fund from the surplus of any utility the whole or any part of an amount
to be determined as follows: to or from the accumulated surplus of such
utility as of the end of the fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year,
add the estimated net profit or deduct the estimated net loss of the utility
for the current fiscal year, and from the resulting balance deduct (a) the
principal of the outstanding debt incurred on account of such utility pay-
able during the ensuing fiscal year, (b) the amount required to be paid
into the sinking fund for the amortization of term bonds issued for such
utility, and (c) an allowance for a safe operating capital for the ensuing
fiscal year, which shall be determined by the director of finance.
An emergency existing this act shall be in force from its passage.