§ 29.8-8. Publication; Council Action on Budget.

 a. Publication. The Council shall publish the proposed budget immediately upon its receipt from the Manager.

 b. Public Hearings. The Council shall hold a minimum of two (2) public hearings on the budget at which time residents of the Municipality may express their views on the proposed budget. The first such hearing shall be not less than twenty-one (21) days nor more than thirty (30) days after the date of the publication. The second public hearing shall be not less than seven (7) days nor more than fourteen (14) after the first hearing.

 c. Method of Publication and Notice of Hearings. The Council shall publish in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the Municipality a general summary of the budget and a notice stating:

   (1)  The times and places where copies of the budget and the message are available to the public, and

   (2)  The times and places of the required public hearings on the budget and such other public hearings as the Council may decide to hold.

 d. Amendment Before Adoption. After the public hearing, the Council may adopt the budget with or without amendment. In amending the budget, it may add or increase programs or amounts and may delete or decrease any programs or amounts, except expenditures required by law or for debt service or for estimated cash deficit, provided that no amendment to the budget shall increase the authorized expenditure to an amount greater than the total of estimated income.

 e. Adoption. The Council shall adopt the budget by ordinance on or before the twenty-eighth (28th) day of the twelfth (12th) month of the fiscal year currently ending. If it fails to adopt the budget by this date, the amounts appropriated for current operations for the current fiscal year shall be deemed adopted for the ensuing fiscal year on a month-to-month basis, with all items in it prorated accordingly, until such time as the Council adopts a budget for the ensuing fiscal year. Adoption of the budget shall constitute appropriations of the amounts specified therein as expenditures from the funds indicated and shall constitute a levy of the property tax therein proposed.