City Clerk

The City Clerk is Misty Bussinger. The Clerk’s office is located in City Hall at 409 9th Street. Following is the Municipal Code in regard to the Clerk.

The appointive offices of City Clerk and City Treasurer are hereby combined and merged in accordance with the authority granted to the City Council by § 30.030(B).

(Prior Code, § 1-203)

(A)     (1)     The City Clerk shall attend the meetings of the City Council, and keep a correct journal of the proceedings of that body. He or she shall keep a record of all outstanding bonds against the city and when any bonds are sold, purchased, paid, or canceled, the record shall show the fact. He or she shall make, at the end of the fiscal year, a report of the business of the city transacted through his or her office for the year. The record shall describe particularly the bonds issued and sold during the year, and the terms of the sale with each and every item, and expense thereof. He or she shall file all official bonds after the same shall have been properly executed and approved. He or she shall make the proper certificate of passage which shall be attached to original copies of all bond ordinances hereafter enacted by the City Council.

(2)     The City Clerk shall issue and sign all licenses, permits, and occupation tax receipts authorized by law, and required by the city ordinances. He or she shall collect all occupation taxes and license money except where some other city officer is specifically charged with that duty. He or she shall keep a register of all licenses granted in the city, and the purpose for which they have been issued.

(3)     The City Clerk shall permit no records, public papers, or other documents of the city kept and preserved in his or her office, to be taken therefrom, except by the officers of the city as may be entitled to the use of the same, but only upon their leaving a receipt therefor. He or she shall keep all the records of his or her office, including a record of all licenses issued by him or her, in a blank book with a proper index. He or she shall include as part of his or her records all petitions under which the City Council shall order public work to be done at the expense of the property fronting thereon, together with references to all resolutions, and ordinances relating to the same. He or she shall endorse the date and hour of filing upon every paper or document filed in his or her office. All filings made by him or her shall be properly docketed. Included in his or her records shall be all standard codes, amendments thereto, and other documents incorporated by reference, and arranged in triplicate in a manner convenient for reference. He or she shall keep an accurate and complete account of the appropriation of the several funds, draw, sign, and attest all warrants ordered for the payment of money on the particular fund from which the same is payable. At the end of each month, he or she shall then make a report of the amounts appropriated to the various funds, and the amount of the warrants drawn thereon. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent any citizen, official, or other person from examining any public records at all reasonable times.

(4)     The City Clerk shall deliver all warrants, ordinances, and resolutions under his or her charge to the Mayor for his or her signature. He or she shall also deliver to officers, employees, and committees all resolutions, and communications which are directed at the officers, employees, or committees. With the seal of the city, he or she shall duly attest the Mayor’s signature to all ordinances, deeds, and papers required to be attested to when ordered to do so by the City Council. Within 30 days after any meeting of the City Council, the City Clerk shall prepare and publish the official proceedings of the City Council in a legal newspaper of general circulation in the city, and which was duly designated as such by the City Council. The publication shall set forth a statement of the proceedings thereof and shall also include the amount of each claim allowed, the purpose of the claim, and the name of the claimant, except that the aggregate amount of all payroll claims may be included as one item. Between July 15 and August 15 of each year, the employee job titles and the current annual, monthly, or hourly salaries corresponding to the job titles shall be published. Each job title published shall be descriptive and indicative of the duties and functions of the position. The charge for the publication shall not exceed the rates provided by the statutes of the state. The publication shall be charged against the General Fund. He or she shall then keep in a book with a proper index, copies of all notices required to be published or posted by the City Clerk by order of the City Council, or under the ordinances of the city. To each of the file copies of the notices shall be attached the printer’s affidavit of publication, if the notices are required to be published, or the City Clerk’s certificate under seal where the same are required to be posted only.

(5)     The City Clerk shall receive all objections to creation of paving districts, and other street improvements. He or she shall receive the claims of any person against the city, and in the event that the claim is disallowed in part, or in whole, the City Clerk shall notify the claimant, his or her agent, or attorney, by letter within five days after the disallowance, and the City Clerk shall then prepare transcripts on appeals of any disallowance of a claim in all proper cases.

(6)     The City Clerk may charge a reasonable fee for certified copies of any record in his or her office as set by resolution of the City Council. He or she shall destroy city records under the direction of the State Records Board, pursuant to Neb. RS 84-1201 through 84-1220; provided, the City Council shall not have the authority to destroy the minutes of the City Clerk, the permanent ordinances, and resolution books, or any other records classified as permanent by the State Records Board.

(Neb. RS 17-605, 19-1102, 19-1104, 84-1201 through 84-1220, 84-712)  (Prior Code, § 1-204)

(B)     At the reorganizational meeting each year, the Mayor, with the consent of the Council, may appoint a Deputy City Clerk, who shall hold office for one year unless sooner removed by the Mayor. The Deputy City Clerk shall have the same duties and powers as the City Clerk, and is empowered to perform the functions of the office of the City Clerk, subject to the authority and control of the City Clerk.

(Neb. RS 17-107, 17-604)  (Prior Code, § 1-205)

(A)     The City Treasurer shall be the custodian of all money belonging to the city. He or she shall keep a separate account of each fund or appropriation and the debts and credits belonging thereto. He or she shall give every person paying money into the treasury a receipt therefor, specifying the date of payment and on what account paid. He or she shall also file copies of the receipts with his or her monthly reports. The City Treasurer shall, at the end of every month, and as often as may be required, render an account to the City Council, under oath, showing the state of the treasury at the date of the account and the balance of money in the treasury. He or she shall also accompany the accounts with a statement of all receipts and disbursements, together with all warrants redeemed and paid by him or her, which warrants, with any and all vouchers held by him or her, shall be filed with his or her account in the City Clerk’s office. If the City Treasurer fails to render his or her account within 20 days after the end of the month, or by a later date established by the City Council, the Mayor may use this failure as cause to remove the Treasurer from office.

(Neb. RS 17-606)

(B)     (1)     All warrants upon the City Treasury shall be paid in the order of their presentation therefor.

(Neb. RS 77-2201)

(2)     The City Treasurer shall keep a warrant register in the form required by Neb. RS 77-2202.

(3)     The City Treasurer shall make duplicate receipts for all sums which shall be paid into his or her office, which receipts shall show the source from which the funds are derived, and shall, by distinct lines and columns, show the amount received to the credit of each separate fund, and whether the same was paid in cash, in warrants, or otherwise. The Treasurer shall deliver one of the duplicates to the person making the payment and retain the other in his or her office.

(Neb. RS 77-2209)

(4)     The City Treasurer shall daily, as money is received, foot the several columns of the cash book and of the register, and carry the amounts forward, and at the close of each year, in case the amount of money received by the Treasurer is insufficient to pay the warrants registered, he or she shall close the account for that year in the register and shall carry forward the excess.

(Neb. RS 77-2210)

(C)     (1)     The City Treasurer shall prepare and publish annually within 60 days following the close of the municipal fiscal year a statement of the receipts and expenditures by funds of the city for the preceding fiscal year.

(Neb. RS 19-1101)

(2)     Publication shall be made in one legal newspaper of general circulation in the city. If no legal newspaper is published in the city, then the publication shall be made in one legal newspaper published or of general circulation within the county in which the city is located.

(Neb. RS 19-1103)

(D)     The City Treasurer shall keep all money belonging to the city separate and distinct from his or her own money. He or she shall invest and collect all money owned by or owed to the city as directed by the City Council. He or she shall maintain depository evidence that all municipal money is, in the name of the city, in a solvent and going financial institution of a type authorized by state law for deposit of municipal funds. He or she shall cancel all bonds, coupons, warrants, and other evidences of debt against the city, whenever paid by him or her, by writing or stamping on the face thereof, “Paid by the City Treasurer,” with the date of payment written or stamped thereon. He or she shall collect all special taxes, allocate special assessments to the several owners, and obtain from the County Treasurer a monthly report as to the collection of delinquent taxes.

(Prior Code, § 1-206)