§ 606. Action on the annual budget and appropriation ordinance by the County Council.

After the public hearing specified in the preceding section, the Council may decrease or delete any items in the budget ordinance except those required by the public general laws of this State and except any provisions for debt service on obligations then outstanding or for estimated cash deficits. The Council shall have no power to change the form of the budget as submitted by the Executive, to alter the revenue estimates or to increase any expenditure recommended by the Executive for current or capital purposes except: 1) as expressly provided in State law; 2) to appropriate funds to the retiree obligations trust, the contingency reserve, or the contingency reserve capital project; and 3) to correct arithmetic errors. The adoption of the budget ordinance, which shall include only the current expense budget and the capital budget, shall be by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the Council on an ordinance to be known as the Annual Budget and Appropriation Ordinance of Howard County. The capital program, as defined in this Charter, shall be adopted by the Council by its separate resolution. Any borrowing to finance capital projects must be authorized by an existing law of the General Assembly of Maryland or by a law of the Council adopted in accordance with the Charter. The Council may adopt from time to time bond issue authorization ordinances pursuant to an enabling law or laws then in force and effect to provide the means of financing such capital projects as are to be financed from borrowing. Such bond issue authorization ordinances are not subject to referendum and shall take effect from the date of their enactment. All of said ordinances referred to in this section shall be exempt from the executive veto. The Annual Budget and Appropriation Ordinance shall be adopted by the Council on or before the first day of the last month of the fiscal year currently ending, and if the Council fails to do so, the proposed current expense budget submitted by the Executive shall stand adopted, and funds for the expenditures proposed in the current expense budget shall stand appropriated as fully and to the same extent as if favorable action thereon had been taken by the Council.

Editor's note

Prior to its being renumbered from § 607 to § 606, this section had been amended by an amendment proposed by C.B. 7, 1973, approved at an election held Nov. 7, 1974. An amendment to § 606 proposed by Res. No. 100, 2012 was approved at an election held on Nov. 6, 2012, and became effective on Dec. 6, 2012. An amendment to § 606 proposed by Res. No. 101, 2016 was approved at an election held on Nov. 8, 2016, and became effective on Dec. 8, 2016.