Title 45

No payment shall be made and no obligation incurred by or on behalf of the city except in accordance with an appropriation duly made and no payment shall be made from or obligation incurred against any allotment or appropriation unless the director of finance shall first certify …

The council may by ordinance establish a reserve fund for permanent public improvements and may appropriate thereto any portion of the general fund cash surplus not otherwise appropriated at the close of any fiscal year. Appropriations from the fund shall be made only to finance …

Any officially adopted budget in existence at the time that the council is first organized, shall continue in force and effect during the balance of the city’s then fiscal year, or until such time as the mayor may submit to the council and the council adopts, an amended, altered,…

At the head of the budget there shall appear a summary of the budget, which need not be itemized further than by principal sources of anticipated revenue, stating separately the amount to be raised by property tax, kinds of expenditures itemized according to departments, doing so…

There shall be a department of finance, the head of which shall be the director of finance, who shall be appointed by the mayor, subject to any merit or civil service system which is applicable to such city. He or she shall be the chief financial officer of the city. The chief fi…

The director of finance shall be a person skilled in municipal accounting, taxation, and financial control. (Acts 1955, No. 452, p. 1004, §6.01.)

The director of finance shall provide a bond with such surety and in such amount as the council may require by resolution or ordinance. The premium on the bond shall be paid by the city. (Acts 1955, No. 452, p. 1004, §6.02.)

The director of finance shall have general management and control of the several divisions and units of the department of finance. He or she shall have charge, subject to the direction and control of the mayor, of the administration of the financial affairs of the city, and to th…

No officer, department, or agency, during any budget year, shall expend or contract to expend any money or incur any liability, or enter into any contract which by its terms involves the expenditure of money, for any purpose, in excess of the amounts appropriated for that general…

All fees received by any officer or employee of the city, shall belong to the city government and shall be paid daily to the department of finance. (Acts 1955, No. 452, p. 1004, §6.06.)

There shall be established in the department of finance a division of purchases, the head of which shall be the city purchasing agent. The purchasing agent, pursuant to rules and regulations established by resolution or ordinance, shall contract for, purchase, store, and distribu…

Before the purchasing agent makes any purchase of or contract for supplies, materials, or equipment, he or she shall give ample opportunity for competitive bidding, under such rules and regulations, and with such exceptions, as the council may prescribe by resolution or ordinance…

Any city improvement costing more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) shall be executed by contract except where such improvement is authorized by the council to be executed directly by a city department in conformity with detailed plans, specifications, and estimates. All such co…

All purchases made and contracts executed by the purchasing agent shall be pursuant to a written requisition from the head of the office, department, or agency whose appropriation shall be charged, and no contract or order shall be issued to any vendor unless and until the direct…

In any budget year, in anticipation of the collection or receipt of revenues of the budget year, the council may by resolution authorize the borrowing of money by the issuance of negotiable notes of the city, each of which shall be designated revenue note for the year 2__ (statin…

In the absence of unappropriated available revenues to meet emergency appropriations under Section 45-37A-52.135, the council may by resolution authorize the issuance of notes, each of which shall be designated emergency note and may be renewed from time to time, but all such not…

All notes issued pursuant to this part may be sold at not less than par and accrued interest at private sale without previous advertisement. (Acts 1955, No. 452, p. 1004, §6.14.)

Nothing in this part, except as specifically provided, shall affect or impair the rights or privileges of officers or employees of the city or of any office, department, or agency existing at the time when this part shall take effect, or any provision of law in force at the time …

All persons holding administrative office at the time the mayor-council form of government is adopted shall continue in office and in the performance of their duties until provision shall have been made in accordance therewith for the performance of such duties or the discontinua…

Any person holding an office or position in the classified service of the city under any civil service or merit system applicable to the city when the mayor-council form of government shall be adopted shall be continued as such officer or employee in the classified service of the…

All records, property, and equipment whatsoever of any office, department, or agency or part thereof, all the powers and duties of which are assigned to any other office, department, or agency by this part, shall be transferred and delivered to the office, department, or agency t…

Any office, department, or agency provided for in this part with a name or with powers and duties the same or substantially the same as those of an office, department, or agency heretofore existing, shall be deemed to be a continuation of such office, department, or agency and, u…

All contracts entered into by the city, or for its benefit, prior to the adoption by such city of the mayor-council form of government, shall continue in full force and effect. Public improvements for which legislative steps have been taken under laws existing at the time of the …

No action or proceeding, civil or criminal, pending at the time of the adoption of the mayor-council form of government, brought by or against the city or any office, department, or agency or officer thereof, shall be affected or abated by the adoption of the mayor-council form o…

All laws and parts of laws relating to pension, retirement, and relief funds for policemen, firemen, and other employees of the city, contained in the general or local laws of the state or in Title 62 of the Code of Alabama of 1940, as amended, as the same may apply and be in eff…

Except as expressly provided by this part, all laws and parts of laws relating to establishment of an authority for fairgrounds, parks, exhibits, exhibitions, and other installations, facilities, and places for the amusement, entertainment, recreation, and cultural development of…

For the purpose of nominating and electing members of the council and the mayor, this part shall become applicable to any city adopting the mayor-council form of government upon the filing of the certificate of adoption by the judge of probate with the mayor or other chief execut…

To the extent consistent with the terms of this part, all ordinances and resolutions of the city in effect at the time of adoption by the city of the mayor-council form of government herein set up shall continue in effect unless and until changed or repealed by the council. To th…

Subject to the provisions of any civil service or merit system applicable to the city, any officer or employee to whom the mayor, or a head of any office, department, or agency, may appoint a successor, may be removed by the mayor or other appointing officer at any time, and the …

The mayor, the heads of all departments, and such other officers of the city as may be designated by the council, shall be entitled to attend meetings of the council, but shall have no vote therein. The mayor shall have the right to take part in the discussion of all matters comi…

The council, the mayor, or any person or committee authorized by either of them, shall have power to inquire into the conduct of any office, department, agency, or officer of the city and to make investigations as to municipal affairs, and for that purpose may subpoena witnesses,…

No contract involving the payment of money out of the appropriation of more than one year shall be made for a period of more than five years, nor shall any such contract be valid unless made or approved by resolution or ordinance. (Acts 1955, No. 452, p. 1004, §8.04.)

All records and accounts of every office, department, or agency of the city shall be open to inspection by any citizen, any representative of a citizens’ organization, or any representative of the press at all reasonable times and under reasonable regulations established by the m…

No member of the council, officer, or employee elected or appointed shall be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract for work or material, or the profits thereof, or services to be furnished or performed for the city, and no such member of the council, officer, or emp…

The director of finance, and such other officers or employees as the council may by general ordinance require so to do, shall give bond in such amount and with such surety as may be approved by the council. The premiums on such bonds shall be paid by the city. (Acts 1955, No. 452…

Every officer of the city, before entering upon the duties of his or her office, shall take and subscribe to the following oath or affirmation, to be filed and kept in the office of the city clerk: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution and will obey t…

No city may change from the mayor-council form of government within two years after the adoption thereof. At the end of such period, or at any time thereafter, the city may change its form of municipal government to: (1) The form of municipal government applicable to the city pri…

Such change, however, shall first be initiated by petition and submitted to a vote of the qualified electors at an election and shall receive at such election a majority of the votes yes or in favor thereof in the same manner and subject to the same requirements as provided in Se…

No election on the abandonment of the mayor-council form of government shall be held within two years after any other election thereon. (Acts 1955, No. 452, p. 1004, §9.03.)

Except as otherwise provided by this part, all laws and parts of laws, general, local, or special, relating to or affecting the city, its powers, functions, duties, and property, in force on September 9, 1955, are hereby continued in effect; but all such laws relating to the exer…

If any section or part of section of this part shall be held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such holding shall not affect the remainder of this part nor the context in which such section or part of section so held invalid may appear, except to the extent that an en…

This part shall be known and may be cited as the Mayor-Council Act of 1955. (Acts 1955, No. 452, p. 1004, §10.03.)

Any such city which adopts the mayor-council form of government shall continue its existence as a body corporate under the name of City of _________ (inserting the name of such city). The word city as hereinafter used shall mean and refer to any city which has adopted the mayor-c…

The municipal government of any such city proceeding under this part shall be known as the mayor-council form of government. Pursuant to the provisions and limitations of this part and subject to the limitations imposed by the Constitution of Alabama and its laws, all powers of t…

The city shall have all the powers granted to municipal corporations and to cities by the constitution and laws of this state together with all the implied powers necessary to carry into execution all the powers granted. The city may acquire property within or without its corpora…

The council shall have nine members elected from single member districts pursuant to Section 2 of Ordinance 89-46, adopted pursuant to Section 11-43-63. The district council members elected pursuant to Section 2 of Ordinance 89-46, adopted pursuant to Section 11-43-63, shall take…