The Mayor shall:

(a) Communicate to the Council at least once a year a statement of the finances and general conditions of the affairs of the City and also such information on financial matters as the Council may from time to time request;

(b) Submit to the Council not later than ninety days before the end of the fiscal year his operating budget message and a proposed annual operating budget ordinance for the ensuing fiscal year. In the operating budget message the Mayor shall furnish to the Council the estimated surplus, or deficit, if any, of the current fiscal year and the estimated actual receipts of the City from all sources for the ensuing fiscal year which shall be available for meeting ordinary expenses and all other information pertinent to an operating budget, shall state the known liabilities of every kind which must be met during the year, and shall recommend appropriations included in the proposed annual operating budget ordinance;

(c) In connection with his submission of the operating budget, recommend to the Council measures which he believes necessary to balance the budget;

(d) At the same time that he submits to the Council the proposed operating budget for the ensuing fiscal year, also submit to the Council the recommended capital program and the recommended capital budget as received from the City Planning Commission to the extent approved by the Mayor;

(e) See to it that the City does not, except in case of unforeseeable emergency, incur a deficit in any fiscal year.

ANNOTATION

Sources: Act of June 25, 1919, P.L.581, Article II, Section 6, Article XVII, Section 1.

Purposes: 1. The Mayor, as the chief executive officer of the City, has the responsibility of shaping and of controlling fiscal policies, subject to powers conferred upon the Council. In discharging this responsibility, the Mayor must submit annually to the Council a financial report of the City and an operating budget message together with an operating budget ordinance. The content of the operating budget message is intended to give a complete picture of the City's financial position, retrospectively and prospectively. In connection with his operating budget, the Mayor is required to take the initiative as to recommendations for balancing the budget.

2. The Mayor is also required, as part of his fiscal duties, to submit annually a capital program and capital budget. These will be prepared in the first instance by the City Planning Commission, and will be submitted to the Mayor for submission to Council. However, in submitting the capital program and capital budget as recommended by the Commission, the Mayor is free to indicate the extent to which they are approved by him. Thus final recommendations as to capital fiscal policies are also made the Mayor's responsibility.

3. The Mayor has the general duty of preventing, except in cases of unforeseeable emergencies, the incurring of deficits in any fiscal year. Periodic reports to him through the Director of Finance will help him keep abreast of City financial developments. Should he see that a deficit is being incurred, he is empowered to require the various agencies of the government to reduce their expenditures to the extent deemed necessary. See Section 8-102.