Section 2: Adoption of the budget and settlement of accounts

Subject to compliance with the provisions of articles LO 6471-4, LO 6471-10 and LO 6471-11, amendments may be made to the budget by the territorial council, up to the end of the financial year to which they apply. Within a period of twenty-one days following the end of the financial year, the Territorial Council may, in addition, make amendments to the budget to adjust the appropriations in the operating section…

The closing of the local authority’s accounts is constituted by the vote of the territorial council on the administrative account presented by the president of the territorial council after transmission, no later than 1st June of the year following the financial year, of the management account drawn up by the accountant of the territorial authority. The vote of the territorial council approving the accounts must take place no later than…

The administrative account is sent to the State representative no later than fifteen days after the deadline set for its adoption by articles LO 6471-10 and LO 6471-13. Failing this, the State representative shall, in accordance with the procedure set out in article LO 6471-7, the Chambre territoriale des comptes for the local authority’s next approved budget.

When the closure of the local authority’s accounts shows a deficit equal to or greater than 5% in the implementation of the budget, after verification of the accuracy of the revenue and expenditure entries, the territorial audit chamber, referred to by the representative of the State, shall propose to the local authority the measures necessary to re-establish a balanced budget within one month of the referral. When the local authority’s…

Only expenditure necessary to pay debts due and expenditure for which the law has expressly so decided are obligatory for the local authority. The territorial audit chamber, seized either by the representative of the State, or by the public accountant concerned, or by any person with an interest therein, establishes that an obligatory expenditure has not been entered in the budget or has been entered for an insufficient sum. It…

If the President of the Territorial Council fails to authorise a compulsory expenditure within one month of being given formal notice to do so by the representative of the State, the latter shall proceed to do so automatically. The period provided for in the first paragraph is extended to two months if the expenditure is equal to or greater than 5% of the operating section of the primary budget.

The provisions of articles LO 6471-16 and LO 6471-17 are not applicable to the entry and payment of compulsory expenditure resulting, for the local authority and its public establishments, from a court decision that has become final. These operations remain governed by the legislative provisions relating to penalties imposed in administrative matters and the enforcement of judgements by legal entities governed by public law and the Code of Administrative Justice….

In the context of public orders, when default interest is not mandated at the same time as the principal, the latter being in an amount greater than a threshold set by regulation, the accounting officer assigning the expenditure shall inform the authorising officer and the representative of the State within ten days of receipt of the payment order. Within a period of fifteen days, the representative of the State shall…

The Territorial Council shall be kept informed at its next meeting of the opinions issued by the Territorial Audit Office and of the decisions taken by the representative of the State in application of the provisions of this chapter.

The territorial council must rule on the public utility nature of the expenditure that has given rise to a declaration of de facto management by the territorial audit chamber during the closest meeting following the transmission of the request sent by the territorial audit chamber to the de facto accounting officer and to the authorising officer of the local authority. Once this deadline has passed, the territorial audit chamber will…