5-01 OFFICE OF FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
(a) The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen and the Legislative Council, shall appoint a Financial Director to an indefinite term. The First Selectman, Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council shall choose and consider all candidates for the position of Financial Director solely on the basis of such candidate’s professional qualifications, character, training and experience in the field of financial management.
(b) The powers, duties and responsibilities of the Financial Director shall be as follows: 17
(1) He shall keep all books of account of the Town and shall establish and maintain a general cost accounting system for all Town Departments including the Board of Education, consistent with all State Laws and subject to the regulations adopted by the Board of Finance and approved by the Legislative Council. As part of this accounting system, he shall keep a separate account for each appropriation showing the amount of the appropriation, the amounts paid or transferred to it, the unpaid obligations against it and the unencumbered balance of the appropriation, and of any allotments thereof;
(2) He shall have all of the powers and duties imposed by the General Statutes or by special act or law on town treasurers, and shall be Treasurer of all trust funds held by the Town;
(3) He shall receive and have custody of all funds belonging to or under the control of the Town or any Town department or officer and shall make such deposits or investments as he deems in the best interest of the Town within the limits imposed on such deposits or investments by the General Statutes. In addition, he shall be responsible for the safekeeping of all bonds and notes owned by the Town and for the receipt and delivery of such bonds and notes for transfer, registration and exchange;
(4) He shall determine when to issue notes or bonds authorized by the Town Meeting or Legislative Council. Bids for such notes or bonds must be sought from at least 3 lending institutions for all borrowings and the net bid most favorable to the Town must be accepted, unless the Financial Director believes that it is in the best interest of the Town to reject all such bids, in which case all such bids may be rejected. He shall require all Town Departments and officers to report and remit all receipts to him as often as he may deem desirable but not more often than daily;
(5) No disbursements of Town funds shall be made, except as authorized by the Financial Director. Before any such funds are spent or any appropriation is encumbered or any contract is entered into, a purchase order signed by the department head or other person authorized to expend the funds shall be submitted to the Financial Director for approval. When funds appropriated to the office of the Financial Director are spent or encumbered, purchase orders therefor shall be signed by the First Selectman or, in his absence, the Chairman of the Board of Finance. The Financial Director shall approve any purchase order, provided there are funds remaining in the account appropriated for the purpose disclosed by the purchase order and provided, further, the purchasing procedures adopted by the Board of Finance and approved by the
Legislative Council have been followed;
(6) The Financial Director shall prepare an analysis of all budget requests submitted as part of the preparation of the Annual Budget, said analysis to be submitted in a timely fashion to the Board of Finance insofar as the requests of the Board of Education are concerned and to the Board of Selectmen on all other requests. A similar analysis shall be provided to the Legislative Council on all requests for special appropriations or transfers submitted to it or initiated by it. He shall prepare a financial impact statement in accordance with Section 6-100 of this Charter to be provided to the Board of Selectmen and Legislative Council. 18
(7) The Financial Director shall maintain a 5 year capital improvement plan in accordance with the regulations of the Legislative Council and shall submit an updated version of such plan to the Legislative Council no later than the fifteenth day of January of even-numbered years.
(8) He shall prepare a cost analysis of all labor contracts, pension plans and insurance plans prior to the signing of any such contracts or plans. He shall assist in all labor negotiations. He shall serve as a consultant to the labor negotiators representing the Town.
(c) The Financial Director, in conjunction with the First Selectman, shall be the purchasing authority for all supplies and contracts for services, except professional services needed by the Town, including supplies needed by the Board of Education where those supplies are of a type which are also used by Town departments other than the Board of Education. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the Board of Education from requesting the purchasing authority to purchase supplies of a type not used by other Town departments, in which case the purchasing authority shall carry out the purchase requested. All purchasing carried out by the purchasing authority shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations adopted by the Legislative Council. Said regulations shall be reviewed biennially by the Legislative Council.
(d) The Financial Director, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen and within the limits of the appropriations made to his office, may hire qualified employees to whom he may delegate specific functions of the aforesaid duties. However, he shall at all times remain fully responsible for carrying out the duties and responsibilities imposed upon him by this Charter.
(e) In carrying out his duties, the Financial Director shall be responsible to the Board of Selectmen or the Legislative Council as set forth in Chapter 6 of this Charter.
(f) The Board of Selectmen, with the approval of the Legislative Council after a hearing before the Council, may remove the Financial Director from office, with or without cause.
5-10 TAX COLLECTOR
(a) The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, shall nominate and appoint a Tax Collector to a term of 4 years commencing the first day of February of 1990 and every February first every 4 years thereafter. The First Selectman and the Board of Selectmen shall choose and consider all candidates for the position of Tax Collector solely on the basis of such candidate’s professional qualifications, character, training and experience. The Tax Collector need not be a resident of the Town. The person appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve the balance of the unexpired term only. The Tax Collector shall have the powers, duties and compensation set forth in the provisions of Section 5-10 (b) of this Charter. The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, may remove the Tax Collector from office for
cause in accordance with the provisions of Section 4-40 of this Charter.
(b) The Tax Collector shall exercise the powers and duties of a Tax Collector as provided by the General Statutes, except as hereinafter provided, and shall perform such other duties as required by this Charter. The receipts to be paid to the Tax Collector shall be collected in accordance with the provisions of the General Statutes or this Charter or ordinances of this Town and shall be deposited with the Financial Director of the Town and the Tax Collector shall file with the Financial Director a full statement of such receipts monthly. The Tax Collector shall also keep a record of receipts in his office which shall show the name of each person from whom money is received, the amounts thereof, and for what received. The expenses of the office will be provided for in the usual budgetary manner.
(c) The Tax Collector shall receive a salary in lieu of all fees and other compensation.
5-20 TOWN ASSESSOR
(a) The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, shall appoint an Assessor to a term of 4 years who shall be chosen solely on the basis of professional qualifications, character, training and experience. The Assessor need not be a resident of the Town. Expiration of each 4 year term shall be computed from expiration of the initial term on February 28, 1972. The person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve the balance of the unexpired term only. The Assessor shall have the powers and duties prescribed for the office by ordinance and the General Statutes. The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, may remove the Assessor from office for cause in accordance with the provisions of Section 4-40 of this Charter.
(b) The duties and responsibilities of the office, the minimum qualifications for office and the methods to be used in the selection of the Assessor, including methods and agencies of administration of professional examinations, shall be prescribed by ordinance.
(c) The Board of Selectmen may remove the Assessor from office for cause in accordance with the provisions of Section 4-40 of this Charter.
5-30 BUILDING INSPECTOR
The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, shall appoint a Building Official for a term of 4 years. The Building Official shall have the qualifications prescribed by the General Statutes and shall have such other qualifications as may be prescribed by ordinance of the Board of Selectmen. The Building Official shall have such powers and duties as may be prescribed by ordinance and by the General Statutes.
5-40 TOWN ATTORNEY
(a) The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, may appoint one or more Town Attorneys to furnish such legal services to the Town and its departments as the First Selectman authorizes.
(b) The Legislative Council Chairman may appoint, with the approval of the affirmative vote of 9 members of the Legislative Council, an attorney to furnish legal services to the Legislative Council.
5-60 CIVIL PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR
The Civil Preparedness Director shall be appointed in accordance with the General Statutes.
5-70 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
There shall exist within the Town a Department of Public Works administered by such employees having such supervisory and administrative functions as may be determined by the First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen. The Department of Public Works shall perform such functions regarding the construction and maintenance of highways and the construction and maintenance of Town owned buildings and grounds, other than the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, the Edmond Town Hall and buildings the operation and control of which is vested in the Board of Education, as are assigned to it by the Board of Selectmen. Nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the Board of Selectmen from hiring independent contractors to perform such maintenance and construction. The Department of Public Works shall perform such maintenance on the Cyrenius H.
Booth Library, the Edmond Town Hall and buildings subject to the operation and control of the Board of Education as is requested by the Trustees of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library, the Board of Managers of the Edmond Town Hall and the Board of Education, provided funds have been appropriated or transferred to the account of the Department of Public Works as are necessary to fulfill the requests of said Trustees and Boards.
5-80 EMPLOYEES
(a) The First Selectman may establish hours of work, set wages or salaries within the range set by the Board of Selectmen, and hire, suspend or dismiss employees of the Town, except employees of the Board of Education and employees whose employment and removal are otherwise provided for by this Charter or by the General Statutes. The First Selectman may, by written order, delegate this power to other Departments of the Town with respect to employees of such Departments.
(b) Uniform procedures for the recruitment and removal of any class of employees which the First Selectman may hire, suspend or dismiss, a general merit system and a pension plan for employees of the Town may be established by ordinance.
(c) All paid appointed employees of the Town shall report to the First Selectman for administrative purposes.
(d) Any employee who has been suspended or dismissed by the First Selectman and for whom no grievance procedure is provided in a collective bargaining agreement may within 15 days of his removal, request in writing a hearing before the Board of Selectmen which hearing shall be held within 15 days from the date of receipt of such request. The employee may appear at the hearing with counsel. The Board of Selectmen shall, within 15 days of the date of the hearing, act to affirm, modify or reverse the action of the First Selectman.
5-90 REGULAR CONSTABLES
Not more than 7 constables shall be appointed by the First Selectman with the approval of the Board of Selectmen for a term of 2 years with no more than a bare majority from any one political party, and they shall have the powers and duties prescribed for constables by this Charter and the General Statutes.
5-100 OTHER OFFICERS AND DEPARTMENTS
(a) The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, shall appoint such other officers, committees or commissions as are required by the General Statutes.
(b) The First Selectman, with the approval of the Board of Selectmen, may appoint such other officers as are authorized by the General Statutes or by ordinance, subject to the provision of necessary appropriations.
(c) The Board of Selectmen may establish and maintain, subject to the provision of necessary appropriations, other departments for the administration of functions of the Town.
| 
