1. The fiscal year shall be January 1 – December 31.
2. An assessment for program costs shall be paid by each member government in February and August of each year. This assessment shall be set by the General Assembly at the time of the final budget approval.
3. A proposed budget of the organization and proposed assessments shall be submitted to each member unit by the Executive Director at the August Operations Committee meeting.
4. Such proposed budget shall be considered and adopted as submitted or as modified by the organization at September General Assembly meeting each year. The budget may be amended or revised during the course of the fiscal year if such changes are adopted by a two-thirds vote of a quorum.
5. Each year upon the adoption of the annual budget, assessment for all member governments shall be fixed at the September meeting. The amount of assessments shall be sufficient to provide funds required by the budget. Such assessments shall be determined by the Council based upon the benefits derived by each member unit. Any member whose local government’s annual assessment has not been paid by the first day of the next fiscal year, for which the assessment was made, shall forfeit all rights, privileges and prerogatives of a member of the Council of Governments until such assessment is paid in full.
6. If the budget is amended and revised during the fiscal year, member assessments may be amended or revised and if such amendments or revisions require a further assessment, such assessment shall be paid by the end of the fiscal year of the making thereof, or the penalties of the previous subsection shall apply.
7. The books of the organization shall be available to be audited by a committee of the Council or a certified public accountant or accountants, and the audit report, if ordered by the committee, for each preceding fiscal year shall be made to the members and participating governments and be made available no later than three months after the close of the audit. The audit committee shall be appointed by the Chair if instructed by a majority of delegates at any regular meeting.
8. The Council shall have the power to:
   1. Apply for and accept contributions, grants, gifts, services, and other assistance from the federal, state, and local governments and agencies thereof and from any other public or private source;
   2. Employ consultants;
   3. Enter into contracts and subcontracts with any person, firm or corporation and with the federal, state or local government or any agency or political subdivision thereof, including, but not limited to, agreements for the joint and cooperative exercise of powers of the authority with any such subdivision or agency in the manner provided in Minnesota Statutes, Section 471.59; and
   4. Comply with any conditions attached by the federal government to a grant or contract for financial assistance to the authority