The Fiscal Committee of the Board of Representatives is the committee to which all matters regarding finance are referred.  The Fiscal Committee approves the annual operating, capital, Board of Education and special reveue fund budgets.  This process begins in March with a series of meetings where the Committee reviews every department budget in detail.  In late April or early May, the full Board meets in a special meeting to consider the Fiscal Committee's recommendations for the ensuing budget.

The Fiscal Committee considers all capital budget, operating budget and grants budget additional appropriations (requests for funds outside the normal budget process).  These requests are submitted by the Mayor (or in certain cases the Superintendent of Schools or other city department heads) and require approval of both the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives.  Capital budget additional appropriations also require the approval of the Planning Board.  Approval of additional appropriation requests require a 2/3 vote of the Board of Representatives.

The Fiscal Committee approves all resolutions that provide the authorization for the Mayor to apply for state and Federal grant monies.