June 24, 2002

Re: Application of Municipal Budget Law of 1982

Dear Sir:

You asked whether the Municipal Budget Law of 1982 (Tennessee Code Annotated, § 6-56-201, et seq.) applies to your City. In my opinion, it does.

T.C.A. § 6-56-202, which is part of this law, provides that:

The provisions of this part apply to any municipality that does not have budget provisions, at least as detailed as provided by § 6-56-203(1) and (3), contained in its charter.

§ 6-56-203(1) requires the budget ordinance to include: estimated expenditures by department, board, office, and agency; expenditures for corresponding items for the preceding year; projected expenditures for the current year and reasons for recommended departures in detail prescribed by the governing body. All monies except those accounted for in a proprietary or fiduciary fund and properly excluded from the budget ordinance must be included in the budget ordinance. A municipality may not expend money from any source, including bond and note proceeds, grants and loans, and special assessments, except in accordance with a budget ordinance or a proprietary or fiduciary fund.

§ 6-56-203(3) requires the budget ordinance to contain estimates of anticipated revenues from all sources. The ordinance must also contain a comparative statement of the amounts received from each source for the preceding fiscal year, the current year, and the coming year in detail prescribed by the governing body.

Although § 7 of your City’s charter (Chapter No. 65, Private Acts of 1905, as amended) has fairly detailed budget ordinance requirements, it does not have certain requirements that are included in the Municipal Budget Law of 1982. In the provisions relative to estimated expenditures, for example, this section of the City’s charter does not have a requirement that the budget ordinance contain expenditures for the preceding year and reasons for recommended departures. Similarly, in provisions regarding anticipated revenues, there is no provision in the City’s charter requiring a comparative statement of amounts received for the previous and current year.

Therefore, based upon the more detailed requirements of the Municipal Budget Law of 1982, and T.C.A. § 6-56-202, it is my opinion that this law applies to your City.

I hope this is helpful. If you have further questions, please contact us.

Sincerely,

Dennis Huffer
Legal Consultant