Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of section fifty-three of chapter forty-four of the General Laws or any other provision of law to the contrary, the city of Springfield is hereby authorized to establish a special account to be known as the "Springfield Municipal Hospital Operations Account". Into such account shall be deposited all receipts, revenues and funds from any source derived from any activity of the Springfield municipal hospital so established under the provisions of chapter four hundred and fifty-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and forty-eight.

SECTION 2. The account authorized by section one shall be maintained by the city treasurer in a banking institution in the city and expenditures from such account shall be made by the director of the Springfield municipal hospital without appropriation, and not subject to line-item restrictions, and used solely for the operation and maintenance and for the provision of capital, equipment and plant for said hospital. Such account shall be maintained in accordance with generally accepted principles of accounting, and shall be audited annually by a certified public accountant. Such audits shall be submitted to the board of trustees of said hospital, the mayor and the members of the city council of said city. The city treasurer shall be authorized to invest the monies in such special account as authorized by sections fifty-five and fifty-five A of chapter forty-four of the General Laws and the interest accruing thereon shall inure to the benefit of Springfield municipal hospital. For the purpose of providing health care for the citizens of the city of Springfield, said city may from time to time appropriate monies into said account and donations from private sources may be received into such special account.

SECTION 3. The city treasurer, upon the written request of the director of the Springfield municipal hospital, and approval by the board of trustees, the mayor, and by two-thirds vote of the city council, shall advance funds from the general fund of the city in any fiscal year in anticipation of the receipt of revenues of said Springfield Municipal Hospital for that same fiscal year. All such sums so advanced shall be deposited into such account established under section one and the said hospital shall prior to the end of each fiscal year repay such advances to the general fund together with an amount equal to the interest as determined by the city treasurer to be allocable to any debt incurred during that fiscal year by the city in anticipation of revenue in order to make such advances. Any deficiency resulting from advances hereunder may be raised by taxation, subject to all applicable provisions of chapter fifty-nine of the General Laws.

SECTION 4. The director of the Springfield municipal hospital shall file with the mayor, the city council and the treasurer of said city and the bureau of accounts a written report of the special account established in section one within one hundred and twenty days after the books are closed for the fiscal year. Such report shall include financial statements relating to the operations, maintenance, capital and real properties of said hospital. The city council may review and comment upon such report and the city council may file such comment with the bureau of accounts. The director shall annually, not later than ninety days prior to the expiration of each fiscal year, submit to the mayor a proposed line-item budget as approved by the board of trustees of said hospital. The mayor shall transmit to the city council, within thirty days thereafter, his recommendation concerning approval thereof in whole or in part. The city council may by majority vote make appropriations for the purposes recommended and may reduce or reject any amount recommended in the annual budget, but except on recommendation of the mayor, shall not increase any amount in or the total of the annual budget, nor add thereto any amount for a purpose not included therein. The city council shall act upon the budget within thirty days of its receipt and, once approved, the vote of the city council shall establish the total budget but may not limit the authority of the director to determine expenditures within the total budget. The provisions of sections thirty-two to thirty-three B, inclusive, of chapter forty-four of the General Laws shall not apply to such budget.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon its passage.