The City shall have the power to control and manage the finances of the City to provide its fiscal year and fiscal arrangements.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
The City shall have the power and is hereby authorized annually to levy and collect taxes, not exceeding two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50), on each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation of all real and personal property within the City limits, not exempt from taxation by the Constitution and laws of the State, for any purpose not inconsistent with the Constitution of the State of Texas.
The City shall authorize the granting and issuance of licenses and shall direct the manner of issuing and registering of licenses, and to set fees for them. No license shall be issued for longer than one (1) year and they shall not be assignable except by permission of the City Commission.
The City shall have the power to levy and collect a franchise tax annually against any public corporation using and occupying the public streets or grounds of the City, separately from the tangible property of such corporation, and to levy and collect, annually, upon the property and shares of corporations, companies and corporate institutions, as may be assessed by the State laws, and shall have full power to enforce the collection of such taxes.
The City shall have the power to regulate the manner and mode of making out tax lists, inventories and appraisals of property, and to prescribe the oath that shall be administered to each person rendering property for taxation, and to prescribe how, when and where property shall be rendered, and to prescribe the number and form of assessment rolls, and to adopt such measures deemed advisable to secure the assessment of all property within the City limits and to collect taxes, and may provide a fine upon all persons failing, neglecting or refusing to render their property for taxation, and to do any and all other things necessary or proper to collect monies for taxation.
The City shall have the power to provide for the rendition of unrented property for taxation and levy and assess taxes on it annually, and provide for rendition, levy and assessment of taxes for previous years on property omitted from taxation, and to charge interest at the highest rate allowed by the Texas Property Tax Code annually upon such unrendered or omitted property, and to change and provide for correction and reassessment of property erroneously assessed.
All real, personal or mixed property held, owned or situated in the City of Harlingen shall be liable for all municipal taxes, due by the owner, including taxes on real estate, franchises, personal and mixed property, and all other municipal taxes. Such municipal taxes are hereby declared to be a lien, charge and encumbrance upon the taxed property and shall be a prior lien to all other claims, sales, assignments, transfers, gifts and judicial writs. This lien shall exist from the first day of January of each year until all such taxes have been paid, and against any real estate which, for any cause, has failed to be assessed for one or more years, and such lien shall be good and effective for every year for which assessment has so failed.
Personal property of all persons, firms or corporations owing any such taxes to the City of Harlingen is made liable for all such taxes whether same be upon personal or real property or upon both.
The governing authority of the City, at its first meeting in June of each year, or as soon thereafter as practicable, shall levy the annual tax for each year, but special taxes or assessments allowed by this Charter may be levied, assessed and collected at such time as the governing authority may determine; provided that should the governing authority fail or neglect to levy the annual tax herein provided for, for any one (1) year, the annual tax levy for the preceding year last made by such governing authority shall and will be considered in force and effective as the tax levy for the year for which no annual tax levy was made.
The annual levy of ad valorem tax and other taxes subject to the State of Texas Tax Code shall be levied each year at the earliest date possible commensurate with the beginning of the City fiscal year. Any special taxes or assessments not specifically regulated and controlled by the Texas Tax Code may be levied, assessed, and collected at such time as the governing body may determine.
The City shall have full power to provide for the prompt collection, by suit or otherwise, of taxes assessed, levied and imposed and is authorized and to that end to have full power and authority to sell, or cause to be sold, all kinds of property, real and personal, and shall make such rules and regulations and enact all such taxes whether they be upon personal or real property or any taxes provided in this Charter.
All monies arising from the collection of taxes by the City shall be divided into two funds designated as a "General Fund" and an "Interest and Sinking Fund."
No irregularities in the time or manner of making or returning the City assessment rolls or the approval of such rolls shall invalidate any assessment.
The City Commission shall have the power to create a Board of Equalization if required under State law.
The City shall have the power, by ordinance, to levy and collect a tax on occupancy of hotel rooms (comprehensively defined in such ordinance) in the City of Harlingen, [the] tax not to exceed the maximum percentage allowed by state law of the consideration paid by the occupant or occupants or each such room.
(Resolution 79-R-7, adopted 2/24/1979; Ordinance 82-97, Amend. No. 3, adopted 1/15/1983; Ordinance 80-101, Amend. No. 2, adopted 1/21/1981; Ordinance 84-83, Amend. No. 10, adopted 12/5/1984; Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
The City Commission shall have the power to appropriate such as such general revenue of the City as may be necessary for the purpose of retiring and settling the accumulated debt of the City, and for the purpose of improving streets, purchasing and constructing sewers, erecting and maintaining public works of all kinds, and for purchasing or constructing water plants and systems, and for the purpose of erecting, maintaining, and operating an electric light and power plant and other public services as the City Commission may, from time to time, deem expedient; and to finance these projects, the City shall have the right and power to borrow money on the credit of the City, within the limits provided by law, and to issue coupon bonds of the City, in such sum or sums as may be deemed expedient; accrue interest not to exceed the amount specified and provided by the applicable statutes of the State of Texas, from time to time; payable annually or semi-annually, at the place or places designated by the ordinance of the City.
All bonds will specify for what purpose they are issued and will be invalid if sold for less than their face value, and when the City issues bonds, a fund will be provided to pay interest and create a sinking fund to redeem the bonds. This fund shall not be diverted or used for any purpose, and the person acting as Chief Financial Officer shall not accept drawings on such fund except to pay interest or redeem the bonds for which it was provided. The bonds may be issued in series and shall be issued for a period of time not exceeding forty (40) years; it shall be signed by the Mayor, countersigned by the person acting in his capacity as Municipal Secretary; and shall be payable at such places and times as may be fixed by the ordinance of the City Commission. All such bonds shall be submitted to the Attorney General of the State of Texas for approval and to the Comptroller for registration, as provided by state law; provided that such bonds, after approval, may be issued by the City, either optional or in series, or otherwise, as the City Commission deems advisable. Prior to the issuance of general obligation bonds, they shall be put to a vote of the qualified voters of the City of Harlingen, Texas, and in the event that a majority of the votes cast in such election are in favor of the issuance of such general obligation bonds, they shall be issued as provided in this Charter; but in the event that such election does not succeed, such general obligation bonds will not be issued. The election provided for herein shall be held like other elections under state law, after due notice by publication, on the same day in each of the two (2) successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in such city, the date of first publication not less than fourteen (14) days before the date fixed for such election. The City will also notify the issuance of municipal bonds in those public places required by state law, on the City's website, and on social media used by the City for that purpose. The notice shall state the nature and purpose of the election. Nothing in this Charter shall prohibit the City Commission from issuing certificates of obligation or guarantees, but only with the affirmative vote of four-fifths (4/5) of the City Commission.
(Ordinance 75-44, adopted 11/11/1975; Resolution 87R-10, adopted 4/9/1987; Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006; Resolution 2024-57 adopted 11/14/2024)
An accounting procedure shall be devised and maintained for the City to record in adequate detail all transactions affecting the acquisition, custodianship and disposition of values, including cash receipts, credit transactions and disbursements. The recorded facts shall be presented periodically to officials and to the public in such summaries and analytical schedules with sufficient detail necessary to show the full effect of such transactions for each fiscal year, upon the finances of the City and in relation to each department of the City, including summaries and schedules for each public utility owned and operated.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
The Finance Director shall audit and approve, before payment, all bills, invoices, payrolls, and other evidences of claims and demands or charges against the City. Any such claims against the City of Harlingen for damages for the death or personal injury of any person or for damages to or destruction of property of any kind, which does not constitute a taking or damage of property under Article 1, Section 17, Constitution of Texas, shall be submitted in writing to the City Manager, duly verified by affidavit, and to be submitted within ninety (90) days after said death, personal injury or property damage has been sustained; stating specifically in such written notice when, where and how the death, injury, damage or destruction occurred, and the apparent extent of any injury, the amount of damages sustained, the actual residence of the claimant by street and number, at the date the claim is presented, the actual residence of such claimant for six (6) months immediately preceding the occurrence of such death, injury, damage, or destruction, and the names and addresses of all witnesses upon whom it is relied to establish the claim for damages. The failure to notify the City Manager within the time and manner specified herein shall exonerate, excuse and exempt the City from any liability whatsoever. No act of any officer or employee of the City shall waive compliance, or stop the City from requiring compliance, with the provisions of this section as to notice, but such provisions may be waived by resolution of the City Commission, made and passed before the expiration of the ninety (90) day period herein provided, and evidenced by minutes of the City Commission.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
All monies received by any person, department, or agency of the City for or in connection with affairs of the City shall be deposited promptly in City depositories, which shall be designated by the City Commission in accordance with such regulations and subject to such requirements as to security for deposits and interest as may be established by ordinance. All checks, vouchers or warrants for the withdrawal of money from the City depositories shall be signed by the Finance Director or Assistant Finance Director and countersigned by the City Manager or Assistant City Manager or their facsimile signature.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
All accounts and fiscal records of the City of Harlingen shall be audited on a perpetual basis by a continuous, independent audit. The independent auditor, for such purposes, shall be a certified public accountant, to be designated and employed by the City Commission from time to time. The City Commission may require a full audit report of the fiscal affairs of the City of Harlingen as often as it sees fit, provided that it shall have one such full audit report at least once each year; and such audit shall be available in full to the public.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)