(1) The expenditures as classified and itemized in the final budget shall constitute the city’s or town’s appropriations for the ensuing fiscal biennium. Unless otherwise ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction, and subject to further limitations imposed by ordinance of the city or town, the expenditure of city or town funds or the incurring of current liabilities on behalf of the city or town shall be limited to the following:

Terms Used In Washington Code 35.34.200

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Chief administrative officer: includes the mayor of cities or towns having a mayor-council form of government, the commissioners in cities or towns having a commission form of government, the manager, or any other city or town official designated by the charter or ordinances of such city or town under the plan of government governing the same, or the budget or finance officer designated by the mayor, manager, or commissioners, to perform the functions, or portions thereof, contemplated by this chapter. See Washington Code 35.34.030
  • Department: includes each office, division, service, system, or institution of the city or town for which no other statutory or charter provision is made for budgeting and accounting procedures or controls. See Washington Code 35.34.030
  • Fiscal biennium: means the period from January 1 of each odd-numbered year through December 31 of the next succeeding even-numbered year. See Washington Code 35.34.030
  • fund: means the budgeting or accounting entity authorized to provide a sum of money for specified activities or purposes. See Washington Code 35.34.030
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Legislative body: includes the council, commission, or any other group of officials serving as the legislative body of a city or town. See Washington Code 35.34.030
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(a) The total amount appropriated for each fund in the budget for the current fiscal biennium, without regard to the individual items contained therein, except that this limitation does not apply to wage adjustments authorized by RCW 35.34.180;
(b) The unexpended appropriation balances of a preceding budget which may be carried forward from prior fiscal periods pursuant to RCW 35.34.270;
(c) Funds received from the sale of bonds or warrants which have been duly authorized according to law;
(d) Funds received in excess of estimated revenues during the current fiscal biennium, when authorized by an ordinance amending the original budget; and
(e) Expenditures authorized by budget modification as provided by RCW 35.34.130 and those required for emergencies, as authorized by RCW 35.34.140 and 35.34.150.
(2) Transfers between individual appropriations within any one fund may be made during the current fiscal biennium by order of the city’s or town’s chief administrative officer subject to such regulations, if any, as may be imposed by the city or town legislative body. Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW 43.09.210 or of any statute to the contrary, transfers, as authorized in this section, may be made within the same fund regardless of the various offices, departments, or divisions of the city or town which may be affected.
(3) The city or town legislative body, upon a finding that it is to the best interests of the city or town to decrease, revoke, or recall all or any portion of the total appropriations provided for any one fund, may, by ordinance, approved by the vote of one more than the majority of all members thereof, stating the facts and findings for doing so, decrease, revoke, or recall all or any portion of an unexpended fund balance, and by said ordinance, or a subsequent ordinance adopted by a like majority, the moneys thus released may be reappropriated for another purpose or purposes, without limitation to department, division, or fund, unless the use of such moneys is otherwise restricted by law, charter, or ordinance.
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