HB515

ENROLLED, An Act,

Relating to any Class 1 municipality; to amend Sections 45-37A-52.55, 45-37A-52.56, 45-37A-52.59, 45-37A-52.95, 45-37A-52.128, 45-37A-52.134, 45-37A-52.198, 45-37A-52.200, and 45-37A-52.270 of the Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the mayor-council form of government; to further provide for the powers and duties of the mayor and the council.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:Section 1. Sections 45-37A-52.55, 45-37A-52.56, 45-37A-52.59, 45-37A-52.95, 45-37A-52.128, 45-37A-52.134, 45-37A-52.198, 45-37A-52.200, and 45-37A-52.270 of the Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§45-37A-52.55.

"The At the first meeting, which shall be held immediately following the effective date of the act adding this amendatory language, and then subsequently at the first meeting held after the election of the council after the effective date of the act adding this amendatory language and every two years thereafter, the council shall elect an officer of the city who shall have the title of president of the council and shall preside at meetings of the council. The council shall also elect and a president pro tem, who shall act as president of the council during the absence or disability of the president. The terms of office of the president and the president pro tem shall be two years and until the council members shall qualify following the next succeeding biennial election successors are elected and qualified. If a vacancy shall occur in the office of president of the council, the council shall elect a successor for the completion of the unexpired term. Both the president of the council and the president pro tem shall be elected from among the council members.

§45-37A-52.56.

"All Except those powers specifically granted by this part to the mayor or as otherwise granted to the mayor by law, all powers of the city, including all powers vested in it by this part, by the laws, general and local, of the state, and the determination of all matters of policy, shall be vested in the council. Without limitation of the foregoing, the council shall have power to:

"(1) Establish administrative departments and distribute the work of divisions.

"(2) (1) Adopt the budget of the city.

"(3) (2) Authorize the issuance of bonds or warrants.

"(4) (3) Inquire into the conduct of any office, department, or agency of the city and make investigations as to municipal affairs.

"(4) (5) Appoint Except as otherwise provided by law or this amendatory act, appoint the members of all boards, commissions, or other bodies authorized hereunder or by law. This provision for appointment of members of boards, commissions, or other bodies authorized hereunder or by law shall supersede any different provision for appointment of such members contained in any statute or ordinance in effect at the time of adoption by the city of the mayor-council form of government set up by this part, and shall include power to remove any member of any board, commission, or body to the same extent as might be done by the governing body of the city at the time of adoption by the city of the mayor-council form of government set up by this part and to appoint another in his or her stead. And wherever in any statute in effect at the time of adoption by the city of the mayor-council form of government the chief executive officer of the city is designated to act in any capacity ex officio, the mayor shall act. This subdivision shall not override the express terms of the Lewis Spratt Act, Subpart 1, commencing with Section 45-37A-50, Part 1 of this article.

"(6)(5) Succeed to all the powers, rights, and privileges conferred upon the former governing body of the city by statutes in effect at the time of adoption by the city of the mayor-council form of government and not in conflict with this part.

"(7)(6) Levy property and license taxes and local improvement assessments.

"(8)(7) Employ for and on behalf of the city such employees as the council may deem necessary to assist the council and perform such duties relating to the work of the council as the president of the council may assign. Each such employee shall serve at the pleasure of the council at such compensation as the council may set, and shall not be under any merit or civil service system. Each such employee shall by reason of such employment become a member of the pension system covering the general employees of such city, if there be such a system, to the same extent and in the same manner as other general employees of the city; provided, application for such inclusion in such pension system be made to the board or other authority administering such pension system within 30 days of May 31, 1984, or, thereafter, within 30 days of their appointment. If no such application be made within such time, such council employees shall not hereafter be a member of such system.

§45-37A-52.59.

"The Upon the written approval of the mayor, the council by ordinance may create, change, and abolish offices, departments, or agencies, other than the offices, departments, and agencies established by this part. The Upon the written approval of the mayor, the council by ordinance may assign additional functions or duties to offices, departments, or agencies established by this part, but may not discontinue or assign to any other office, department, or agency any function or duty assigned by this part to a particular office, department, or agency.

§45-37A-52.95.

"The mayor shall be the head of the administrative branch of the city government. The mayor shall not sit with the council nor shall he or she have a vote in its proceedings and he or she shall have the power and duties herein conferred. The mayor shall be responsible for the proper administration of all affairs of the city and, subject to any civil service or merit system law applicable to such city and except as otherwise provided herein, he or she shall have power and shall be required to:

"(1) Enforce all law and ordinances.

"(2) Appoint and, when necessary for the good of the service, remove all officers and employees of the city except as otherwise provided by this part and except as he or she may authorize the head of a department or office to appoint and remove subordinates in such department or office; provided that he or she shall not appoint or remove officers and employees of:

"a. Any library board of the city.

"b. a. Any board of the city having control over any park, recreation facility, fair, or exhibit, or any library board of the city.

"c. b. Any municipally-owned public utility, including electric, gas, and water systems, while such utility is operating under a board constituted by law or required by the terms of any indenture, mortgage, or deed of trust providing for employment by other authority.

"d. c. Any nonelected school board of the city.

"e. d. Any planning board or zoning board of the city.

"(3) Exercise administrative supervision and control over all departments created by this part or by law or hereafter created by the council except those enumerated in paragraphs a. to e. d., inclusive, of subdivision (2) and except those otherwise given independent status under this part.

"(4) Shall keep the council fully advised as to the financial conditions and needs of the city; prepare and submit the budget annually to the council and be responsible for its administration after its adoption; prepare and submit, as of the end of the fiscal year, a complete report on the financial and administrative activities of the city for such year and prepare a detailed report within 10 days of the council's request except the mayor shall have an extension of five additional days if the information is not readily available.

"(5) Recommend to the council such actions as he or she may deem desirable.

"(6) Prepare and submit to the council such reports as may be required of him or her.

"(7) Perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this part.

"(8) Fix the salaries or compensation of all officers and employees of the city who are appointable by him or her, subject, however, to any civil service or merit law applicable to the city.

"(9) Employ as members of his or her staff such employees as the mayor may deem necessary for and on behalf of the city to assist the mayor and perform such duties relating to the mayor as the mayor may assign. Each such employee shall serve at the pleasure of the mayor for such compensation as the mayor may set. Such staff members shall not be under any merit or civil service system, but, should a member of the classified service under any merit or civil service system applicable to the city be appointed hereunder, the provisions of this section notwithstanding, he or she may be paid at the salary established for his or her classification at the time of appointment and such person shall not lose any rights under such merit or civil service system by reason of his or her appointment hereunder, and shall, upon termination of service on the mayor's staff, have the right to return to the classified service, with full credit for time served on the mayor's staff, at the same or higher classification as that held upon appointment hereunder. Each such employee shall by reason of such employment become a member of the pension system covering the general employees of the city, if there be such a system, to the same extent and in the same manner as other general employees of the city, provided such employee apply to the board or other authority administering such pension system within 30 days of appointment; otherwise, such employee shall not be a member of the system. This section shall not limit the authority of the mayor to appoint other staff under the merit system or as otherwise authorized by law. No person employed in one of these staff positions shall run for elected office while so employed.

"(10) Retain the services of outside counsel and other professional services, to the extent that it is in the budget, and will not impact the budget, to meet the needs of the city when, in the opinion of the mayor, such action would best serve the interests of the city.

§45-37A-52.128.

"After the conclusion of the public hearing, the council, by an affirmative vote of five members and only if approved in writing by the mayor, may insert new items of expenditures or may increase, decrease, or strike out items of expenditure in the general fund budget, except that no item of expenditure for debt service, or any other item required to be included by this part or other provision of law, shall be reduced or stricken out. The council shall not alter the estimates of receipts contained in the budget except to correct omissions or mathematical errors and it shall not cause the total of expenditures as recommended by the mayor to be increased without a public hearing on such increase, which shall be held not less than three days after notice thereof by publication in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city. The council shall in no event adopt a general fund budget in which the total of expenditures exceeds the receipts and available surplus, estimated as provided in Section 45-37A-52.123, unless at the same time it adopts measures for providing additional revenue in the ensuing fiscal year, estimated as provided in Sections 45-37A-52.121 and 45-37A-52.124, sufficient to make up the difference.

§45-37A-52.134.

"Appropriations in addition to those contained in the original general fund budget ordinance, may be made by the council by not less than five affirmative votes, but only on the recommendation of the mayor in writing, copies of which he or she shall provide to the director of finance, and only if the director of finance certifies in writing that there is available in the general fund a sum unencumbered and unappropriated sufficient to meet such appropriation. Additional appropriations may be made by the council, by not less than five affirmative votes, from the funds of any utility for the operation of that utility, but only if the director of finance certifies in writing that there is available in the funds of the utility, a sum unencumbered and unappropriated sufficient to meet such appropriation.

§45-37A-52.198.

"All 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 the citizens of a city, and for the powers, authority, mode of financing, and conduct of the same, 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 effect with respect to any city at the time when such city shall elect to be governed by this part, shall continue in full force and effect, and without interruption or change as to the establishment or conduct of any authority created thereunder, after adoption of the mayor-council form of government by such city.

§45-37A-52.200.

"All 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 the extent any current or future ordinance or resolution of the city is inconsistent with the express terms of this part, the ordinance or resolution shall be void and of no effect to the extent of its inconsistency.

§45-37A-52.270.

"All 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 exercise of powers, functions, and duties by the commission or council-manager or some other form of government shall be superseded to the extent that the same are inconsistent with this part."

Section 2. This act shall become effective immediately following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.

Birmingham

Jefferson County

Mayors

City Council

Code Amended