Chapter 1. The Budget of the Republic
Article 176
The
ordinary budget of the Republic encompasses all probable revenues and
all authorized expenditures of the public administration during the
fiscal year. In no case may the amount of budgetary expenditures exceed
that of probable revenues.
The Municipal Governments and autonomous institutions shall observe the foregoing rules when issuing their budgets.
The
budget of the Republic shall be issued for a period of one year, from
the first day of January to the thirty-first day of December.
Article 177
The
Executive Branch shall prepare the ordinary budget through a
specialized department, the head of which shall be appointed by the
President of the Republic for a term of six years. This Department
shall have authority to reduce or suppress any items in the proposed
budgets drawn up by the Cabinet Ministers, the Legislative Assembly,
the Supreme Court of Justice and the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. In the
event of any conflict, the President of the Republic shall make the
final decision. The expenditures budgeted by the Supreme Electoral
Tribunal for suffrage purposes cannot be objectedto by the Department
to which this Article refers.
The budget shall allocate to the
Judicial Branch an amount of no less than six percent of the ordinary
income estimated for the fiscal year. However, when this amount is
greater than the sum required to cover the basic needs budgeted by said
Branch, said Department shall designate the difference as excess
revenue, together with a plan for additional expenditure, in order that
the Legislative Assembly may take the appropriate measures.
In
order to obtain comprehensive social security coverage and to fully
guarantee the payment of the State contribution, both as the State and
as employer, sufficient revenues shall be allocated to the Costa Rican
Social Security Administration, duly calculated to satisfy the current
and future needs of the Institution. If a deficit occurs as a result of
insufficient revenues, the State shall assume this obligation, for
which the Executive Branch shall include in the next budget the
appropriate amount considered by said institution as necessary to cover
the total State payments.
The Executive Branch shall prepare
for each fiscal year the proposed extraordinary budgets, for the
expenditure of revenues derived from the use of public credit or from
any other extraordinary source.
(As amended by Law No. 2345, May 20, 1959, and Law No. 2738, May 12, 1961.)
Article 178
The
proposed ordinary budget shall be submitted to the Legislative Assembly
by the Executive Branch not later than the first day of September of
each year and the Budget Law shall be finally enacted before the
thirtieth day of November of the same year.
Article 179
The
Assembly may not increase the expenditures budgeted by the Executive
Branch unless it also provides for new revenues to be collected, upon
prior opinion of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic
as to the fiscal effectiveness thereof.
Article 180
The
regular and extraordinary budgets constitute the limit of the action by
Public Powers in the use and disposal of State funds, and they may be
amended only by laws proposed by the Executive Branch.
Any
proposed amendment that implies an increase in or the creation of
expenditures shall be subject to the terms of the foregoing Article.
However,
when the Assembly is in recess, the Executive Branch may alter the
intended use of an authorized item or open additional credits, but only
to meet urgent or unforeseen necessities in the event of war, internal
commotion or public calamity. In such cases, the Office of the
Comptroller may not withhold approval of expenditures so ordered and
the respective Decree shall imply the convocation of the Legislative
Assembly to special sessions to act upon it.
Article 181
The
Executive Branch shall submit to the Office of the Comptroller the
liquidation of the regular and any extraordinary budgets, not later
than the first day of March following expiration of the year in
question. The Office of the Comptroller shall submit it to the
Assembly, together with its opinion, not later than the next first day
of May. The final approval or disapproval of the items corresponds to
the Legislative Assembly.
Article 182
Contracts
for performance of public works entered into by State Branches,
Municipal Governments and autonomous institutions, purchases made with
funds of those entities, and sales or leases of their property shall be
carried out by means of bidding proceedings, in accordance with the
provisions of law governing the amount involved.
Chapter 2. The Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic
Article 183
The
Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic is an auxiliary
institution of the Legislative Assembly in its surveillance of the
Public Finances; but it has full functional and administrative
independence in the performance of its duties.
A Comptroller
and an Assistant Comptroller shall be in charge of the Comptroller's
Office. Both officials shall be appointed by the Legislative Assembly
for a term of eight years, two years after the commencement of a
presidential term. They can be reelected indefinitely, enjoying the
immunities and prerogatives of the members of the Supreme Branches.
The
Comptroller and the Assistant Comptroller are responsible to the
Assembly for the performance of their duties and may be removed by it
by a vote of no less than two-thirds of the entire membership, if their
unfitness or misconduct is demonstrated in the proceedings conducted
for the purpose.
Article 184
The powers and duties of the Comptroller's Office are:
1. To supervise the execution and liquidation of the ordinary and extraordinary budgets of the Republic;
No
order of payment against State funds shall be issued unless the
respective expenditure has been countersigned by the Comptroller's
Office; and there shall be no obligation for the State unless it has
been so countersigned;
2. To examine and approve or disapprove
the budgets of the Municipal Governments and the autonomous
institutions, and supervise their execution and liquidation;
3.
To submit a report on an annual basis to the Legislative Assembly, at
its first regular session, covering the preceding fiscal year,
including a detail of the work of the Comptroller and any opinions or
suggestions he may deem necessary for a better management of public
funds;
4. To examine, audit and close the accounts of State institutions and public officials;
5. Any other powers vested in it by this Constitution or the laws.
Chapter 3. The National Treasury
Article 185
The
National Treasury is the center of operations for all national revenue
offices. This is the only body legally empowered to pay out funds on
behalf of the State and to receive any amounts that, as revenues or for
any other reason, have to enter to the National Treasury.
Article 186
A
National Treasurer and an Assistant Treasurer shall be in charge of the
Treasury. Both officials are independent in the performance of their
duties, which shall be regulated by law. They are appointed by the
Government Council for a term of four years, and may be removed only
for due cause.
Article 187
Any
expenditure by the National Treasury, not related to the wages of the
permanent personnel of the Public Administration, duly included in the
budget, shall be published in the Official Journal.
Those
expenditures that for very special reasons the Government Council
believes should not be published shall be exempted from this formality,
but in this event, the Legislative Assembly and the Comptroller's
Office shall be given notice confidentially without delay.
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