Committee narrows budget transfer authority: manager may move funds within nonrestricted funds

The Charter Review Committee debated how much discretion the city manager should have to move budgeted funds during the fiscal year and coalesced around a compromise: allow transfers among programs within a nonrestricted fund with a timely written report to council.

Committee members contrasted the Aubrey model (which allows council to transfer unused appropriations) with the current Lago Vista language that permits the city manager to move money within a department but not between departments. Paul Prince recapped the practical constraint, saying the city manager could move expenses ‘‘from the police department to the library because that's all within the general fund,’’ but could not move utility fund dollars into the general fund without council action.

Members raised transparency concerns about letting the manager move money across distinct funds (for example, from utilities to parks) because those funds often have different revenue sources and legal restrictions. To balance flexibility and oversight, several members proposed allowing transfers within a nonrestricted fund (so manager can reallocate program dollars quickly) while reserving cross‑fund transfers for council action. The committee endorsed shifting the charter language to allow transfers within a nonrestricted fund and to require timely written reporting to council.

The committee also agreed to simplify publication language: require that the budget, CIP and appropriation ordinances be public records and be published, with the definition of ‘‘publish’’ clarified in the charter definitions.

Separately, the committee voted to fold Aubrey’s taxpayer‑funding for nonprofits language into the draft charter as a new Article 8.17; members debated whether limiting the provision to 501(c)(3) entities was appropriate and emphasized contracting and reporting safeguards if the city funds nonprofits.