Finance

Bylaws

Sec. 3
The Finance Committee shall consist of the three most junior past district governors in terms of service in this district who are members of clubs in this district and are available to serve, plus two past presidents who are not incoming nor past governors. The senior past district governor shall serve as Chair. The committee shall perform such duties as are set forth in Article VI of these bylaws.

Article VI Finance

(a) The District Governor Elect shall propose a budget for his term of office to the Finance Committee within ten days of the completion of the International Assembly in the Rotary year preceding his\her term of office as district governor. The Finance Committee shall meet with the district governor elect during the 30 thirty day period following the presentation of the proposed budget and shall approve the final budget to be presented to the District Assembly. The affirmative votes of at least three members of the finance committee shall be required for budget approval.

(b) The budget shall consist of projected income, the proposed annual per capita district dues and allocations for program expenses and operating expenses. The budget shall show a reserve for contingencies of at least two percent of the amount of other expenditures. The Finance Committee shall certify the proposed budget to the District Governor by April 1 of the preceding Rotary year and the District Governor shall provide a copy of such proposed budget to each club president and president-elect with a notice that such budget shall be presented for adoption at the annual District Assembly. Such notice shall be mailed at least 30 days preceding the date of the District Assembly.

(c) The budget as presented by the Finance Chair or his\her designee, to the District Assembly and as may be amended by the District Assembly shall be adopted by a majority of the presidents-elect present and voting at the District Assembly. Only presidents-elect may vote to amend or adopt the district budget, provided that where a president-elect is formally excused from attending the district assembly by the incoming governor, the designated representative of the president-elect shall be entitled to vote in his/her place.

(d) The district governor and the district treasurer shall designate a bank as the district depository and shall open a checking account which shall require the signatures of the district governor and/or district treasurer for all withdrawals. Such account shall be designated as The District Fund. The district governor, after consultation with the finance committee, may also open an investment account or like account for funds not currently needed by the district. Investment of funds not currently needed may be made by the district governor and/or treasurer in accordance with the policies of Rotary International. Separate accounts for the district conference or for other purposes may be opened by the district governor at his\her discretion, provided, however, that all such other district depository accounts shall have the treasurer and another district chair/officer as signatories on each account and that all bank statements shall be delivered by relevant banks to the treasurer. The above requirements shall not apply to the District Contingency Fund which shall be governed as provided below.

(e) The district governor may expend the funds budgeted and received. The governor shall have the authority to revise budget line items after consultation with the finance committee and provided that the governor may not expend more than the total amount appropriated by the district budget, except as hereinafter provided. Those items which contemplate a contribution to a succeeding year's budget or a contribution to special funds or as may be specified by these bylaws or district resolutions may not be expended by the district governor for any other purpose. The district governor shall not approve any fund raising program for general district budget purposes which does not appear in the approved budget or which has not been approved by the District Assembly. The prior sentence of this subparagraph is not intended to prevent the district governor from approving the solicitation of advertisements or other methods of raising funds for any district publication.

(f) The budget shall provide an appropriation sufficient to enable the district governor elect and his/her partner to attend the Rotary International Convention, to enable the district governor, district governor elect, and partners to attend the district conference, and to enable the district governor, district governor elect and district governor nominee to attend the Rotary Institute programs such as governor elect training, governor programs, etc. The budget shall further provide an appropriation to enable the District Trainer to attend the sessions provided for such trainers at the Zone Institutes. Nothing is intended in this provision to restrict the district from providing an appropriation for other officers and/or partners for other district, zone or international meetings. In determining such appropriations, the finance committee and the District Assembly shall consider the lowest costs reasonably necessary for the officer to attend the specific meeting only.

(g) The district shall provide an annual appropriation for the representative of the district to the Council on Legislation, which appropriation shall be carried over to the next Rotary year and expended in the year during which the Council meets.

(h) In the event that a Rotary International Convention is held in a location which requires an unusually large appropriation for attendance by the governor elect, the budget may in prior years anticipate such expense by a partial appropriation which shall be paid over to succeeding district treasuries until needed for such convention. Any unused funds appropriated for attendance at the Rotary International Conventions shall be considered line items and shall be paid over to succeeding district treasuries solely for the same purpose.

(i) The budget may provide for an appropriation/contribution to any fund created by the district for a charitable Rotary purpose.

(j) The budget may contain an appropriation towards the conduct of the district conference to cover those expenses assumed by the district for the conference, including, but not limited to, the expenses of the president's representative, the attendance of Interact and Rotaract leaders, the attendance of group study team visitors or members, the expenses set forth for a district conference in subparagraph (f), etc.

(k) The district governor shall pay all of the obligations of the district no later than two months following the end of his\her term of office and shall dispose of any excess funds as follows:

(i) The governor shall pay over to the new district governor the sums budgeted which were intended to be paid to a succeeding treasury for a specific future use;
(ii) The funds remaining (except for restricted funds which must be paid over to the succeeding district governor or are considered a line item) shall be paid over to the Finance Committee for deposit in the District Contingency Fund, provided that no such transfer to the District Contingency Fund shall be made which shall raise the amount of the Fund to more than 60% of the amount of budgeted operating expenditures for the year during which the transfer is made, provided however, that when the contingency fund reaches 60% as set forth above, 10% of the funds remaining shall be paid into the District Contingency Fund until the Fund reaches 100% of the amount of budgeted operating expenses as set forth above; and
(iii) For the purpose of this section, ?operating expenses? shall be defined as all budget items except for the programs and district events that are intended to be funded by sources other than district per capita dues.
(jv) Funds in excess of those required to be paid over to the Contingency Fund may be used for any purpose permitted by the R.I. Bylaws of R.I. Board of Directors Code of Policies.

Sec. 2 Annual Audit
The outgoing district governor shall by September 30 after the expiration of his\her term of office deliver a complete report of income and expenditures, a year-end trial balance, detailed general ledger, journal (including detailed cash receipts and detailed cash disbursements), year- end bank reconciliations and budget status to the chair of the district audit committee. Additionally, the outgoing district governor shall provide the Audit Committee with check registers, bank statements, deposit slips and any other financial items requested by the Audit Committee or required for Federal and State tax returns. The Audit Committee and any certified public accountant appointed to consult with the committee shall review the records of the district governor and shall meet with the district governor and the district treasurer to review the records. The Audit Committee shall prepare its report, including recommendations to the current District Governor and shall forward a copy of the audit report to each of the clubs. The audit report shall be submitted to the district conference or district assembly and formally adopted by the delegates. It is the intention of this section that the Audit complies with all requirements of Rotary International plus those provisions set forth above. In addition to any penalties provided by the R.I. Bylaws or Code of Policies, in the event an outgoing district governor fails to fully comply with all requirements of R.I. or the district in connection with the audit of his/her books and records as governor, the incumbent governor shall suspend the outgoing governor from all district positions, including participation in the College of Governors, until such outgoing governor fully complies with the audit requirements. Such suspension shall not be an exclusive remedy and other lawful remedies may be instituted by the district or Rotary International.

Sec. 3 Contingency Fund
The District Contingency Fund, funded as provided above, shall be maintained in a depository designated by the Finance Committee. All withdrawals shall be made by the Chair of the Finance Committee and the District Governor. The funds held in the District Contingency Fund may be expended only in an emergency as approved by a majority of the Finance Committee upon the recommendation of the District Governor. The governor elect, however, may borrow up to seven thousand dollars from the fund on or after January 2 of each year in order to defray the costs of organizing the district. The funds borrowed shall be deposited in the governor-elect's district treasury account, all expenditures from those funds shall be provided for in the governor-elect's annual district budget, shall be subject to review by the district audit committee and shall be repaid to the contingency fund no later than September 1 of the governor's term. A negative decision of the Finance Committee as to the payment of any funds from the contingency fund may be appealed by the district governor to the presidents of the clubs at a regular or special meeting of the District Assembly or District Conference.

Sec. 4 Per Capita Dues
Each club shall pay such annual per capita dues which shall be approved in the district budget. The incoming district treasurer shall provide a bill to each club on or about June 1 of each year and such dues shall be due and payable on July 1. The per capita dues shall apply to all members, other than honorary, of a club as of July 1 of each year.