All officers and heads of departments, offices, divisions, boards, commissions, and agencies of every locality shall, on or before the first day of April of each year, prepare and submit to the governing body an estimate of the amount of money needed during the ensuing fiscal year for his department, office, division, board, commission or agency. If such person does not submit an estimate in accordance with this section, the clerk of the governing body or other designated person or persons shall prepare and submit an estimate for that department, office, division, board, commission or agency.

The governing body shall prepare and approve a budget for informative and fiscal planning purposes only, containing a complete itemized and classified plan of all contemplated expenditures and all estimated revenues and borrowings for the locality for the ensuing fiscal year. The itemized contemplated expenditures shall include any discretionary funds to be designated by individual members of the governing body and the specific uses and funding allocation planned for those funds by the individual member; however, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, general or special, an amendment to a locality's budget that changes the uses or allocation or both of such discretionary funds may be adopted by the governing body of the locality. The governing body shall approve the budget and fix a tax rate for the budget year no later than the date on which the fiscal year begins. The governing body shall annually publish the approved budget on the locality's website, if any, or shall otherwise make the approved budget available in hard copy as needed to citizens for inspection.

Code 1950, § 15-575; 1959, Ex. Sess., c. 69; 1962, c. 623, § 15.1-160; 1976, c. 762; 1978, c. 551; 1997, c. 587; 2008, c. 353; 2013, c. 747.