58.1-3005 - Cities and towns to make city and town levies; funds not available, allocated, etc., until appropriated.
§ 58.1-3005. Cities and towns to make city and town levies; funds notavailable, allocated, etc., until appropriated.
The council of every city and town shall annually cause to be made up andentered on its journals an account of all sums lawfully chargeable on thecity or town which ought to be paid within one year and order the impositionof taxes in such amount as in their opinion is necessary to be raised. Anysuch governing body may provide that if any taxpayer owns tangible personalproperty of such small value that the local levies thereon for the yearresult in a tax of less than fifteen dollars, such tax may be collected asprovided by ordinance or such property may be omitted from the personalproperty book and no assessment made thereon.
The imposition of taxes or the collection of such taxes shall not constitutean appropriation nor an obligation or duty to appropriate any funds by thecouncil of any city or town for any purpose, expenditure, or contemplatedexpenditure. No part of the funds raised by the general city or town taxesshall be considered available, allocated, or expended for any purpose untilthere has been an appropriation of funds for that expenditure or purpose bythe council either annually, semiannually, quarterly, or monthly. There shallbe no mandatory duty upon the council of any city or town to appropriate anyfunds raised by general city or town taxes except to pay the principal andinterest on bonds and other legal obligations of the city or town and to payobligations of the city or town or its agencies and departments arising undercontracts executed or approved by the council, unless otherwise specificallyprovided by statute. Any funds collected and not expended in any fiscal yearshall be carried over to the succeeding fiscal years and shall be availablefor appropriation for any governmental purposes in those years. This sectionshall be applicable to all cities and towns in the Commonwealth and theprovisions of any charter of any city or town inconsistent or in conflictwith this section shall be inoperative to the extent of such inconsistency orconflict.
(Code 1950, § 58-844; 1950, p. 317; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 52; 1971, Ex. Sess.,c. 11; 1972, c. 340; 1984, c. 675; 1988, c. 430; 1989, c. 81; 1994, c. 252.)