Vermont § 48 - Appropriation; budget

§ 48. Appropriation; budget

• (a) Gross appropriation fixed and levy. (1) No appropriation may be voted unless such action was duly warned. (2) As of the effective date of the budget, all amounts stated therein are appropriated
  (for the specified agency’s or department’s purpose). Adoption of the budget shall
  constitute appropriations of the amounts specified therein from the funds indicated.
  This shall constitute an authorization to raise all monies required. (3) Nothing herein shall limit the authorizing of payments or making of capital expenditures
  to be financed, whether in whole or in part, by the issuance of bonds except as provided
  in section 52 of this charter. (4) The Town Manager or the Town Manager’s designee may, upon approval of the Selectboard,
  make a contract or lease for payments beyond the end of the fiscal year. (5) Every appropriation, except an appropriation for a capital expenditure and multiyear
  contracts for which Town monies have been obligated, shall lapse at the close of the
  fiscal year to the extent that it has not been expended or encumbered. An appropriation
  for a capital expenditure shall continue in force until the purpose for which it has
  been made has been accomplished or abandoned. (b) Overruns on gross appropriations; emergency appropriations. (1) The gross appropriation may not be exceeded, except by consent of the Selectboard,
  as limited in this charter. (2) In the event of an emergency situation officially declared by the Selectboard, an
  amount not exceeding five percent of the gross appropriation may be expended. (3) Any amount in excess of five percent of the gross appropriation shall be warned and
  voted by special or regular Town meeting. (c) Under expenditures; excess revenues. (1) Under expenditures. If during the fiscal year, the Board, upon recommendation and certification of the
  Town Manager, determines that there are funds available due to under expenditure of
  the funds or revenue returns exceeding projections proposed in the budget, the Board
  may make supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year up to the amount of such
  excess, not to exceed five percent of the gross appropriation. (2) Excess revenues unexpected. If unexpected revenues or underexpenditures equal over five percent of the gross appropriation
  respectively, such overage shall be carried over as surplus. (d) Surplus. Any surplus created, subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section,
  may be carried over to the next fiscal year’s budget and counted as a fixed receipt
  on the calculation of the ensuing tax rate or, by action of the Selectboard, may be
  placed in a capital reserve fund as provided for in this charter. (e) Transfers—alterations in the work program. (1) The Town Manager may transfer, at any time, with a public report to the Selectboard,
  an unencumbered appropriation balance, or portion, between general classifications
  of expenditures within an office, department, or agency. (2) The Selectboard may transfer, by formal vote, any unencumbered portion or balance
  of an appropriation from one department or agency to another. (3) In no case shall a transfer violate the gross appropriation as limited by subsection
  (a) of this section. (f) Ongoing appropriation; in the event of a budget revote. (1) In the event that the budget is not adopted before the beginning of the fiscal year,
  the amount appropriated for the prior year shall be deemed adopted. (2) In the event that the budget is not adopted before the beginning of the fiscal year,
  expenditures during the budget revote shall be limited on a monthly basis to an allotment
  based on the prior year’s appropriation until such time as the budget is adopted. (Amended 2021, No. M-13 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 16, 2022.)