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Panel reviews H902 to allow city manager or authorized councilor to sign property deals and raise Barrys reserve cap to 10%
Summary
A House committee reviewed H902, a proposal to amend the city of Barrys charter to permit the city manager or a councilor authorized by vote to sign sale or lease documents and to let the city retain up to 10% of its general fund as an undesignated balance; testimony highlighted use of reserves for FEMA flood recovery and a clarification tying carryover decisions to the fiscal-year audit.
A House Government Operations & Military Affairs committee on Wednesday, March 18, reviewed H902, a proposed charter amendment for the city of Barry that would let the city manager or a councilor authorized by a council vote sign documents for the sale or lease of city property and would allow the city to retain an undesignated fund balance of up to 10% of its general fund for the most recent voter-approved fiscal year.
Michael Bin, Barry city representative, told the committee the change to section 313 is intended to give the city flexibility when the mayor or city manager is unavailable. "We currently have it set up so that any real estate deals have to be signed by the mayor," Bin said, and the amendment would permit "the city manager or any councilor duly authorized by action of the city council" to execute those documents.
Tucker Anderson of Legislative Council gave a technical overview of the bill and its operative sections, explaining that section 601 would permit the council to retain up to 10% of the city general fund as an undesignated fund balance and that the provision ties that calculation to the most recent voter-approved fiscal year. Anderson noted the charter language in H902 is more restrictive than the general law that currently allows municipal legislative bodies broader carryover authority.
The city manager, testifying to the committee, described why the larger reserve would matter for Barry. He said the city's existing 5% fund balance helped the municipality front costs after the 2023–24 floods so it did not have to borrow while waiting for FEMA reimbursements: "Because we had a fund balance ... we didn't have to actually borrow a nickel," he said, adding that vacancies produced some of the reserve and that a 10% limit would give additional security for future emergencies.
Rep. Coffin asked about the bill's insertion of the word "audit"—"at the close of the fiscal year audit"—and whether that affects timing for deciding any carryover. The city manager said audits lag roughly a year and tying the carryover decision to completion of the audit provides a clear milestone for council and residents.
Committee members also asked whether the change was prompted by a local controversy over a downtown property. The city manager described an acquisition of a long-vacant downtown building (referred to in testimony as the old JG Newberry's) in which the Barry Area Development Corporation participated and for which the city pledged $400,000 in ARPA funds toward an estimated $1 million purchase; he clarified that H902 addresses sale or lease of city property and that the earlier incident was an acquisition, not a sale of municipal property.
No committee vote on H902 was recorded at the hearing; the chair said the committee would flag the bill for further discussion after crossover. The panel scheduled brief follow-up business and reconvened later to consider an unrelated amendment to H917.
