Homewood moves budget-transfer delegation toward vote after council seeks dual-signature oversight

The Homewood City Council reopened discussion on May 18 about item 060526, a proposed resolution to delegate limited authority for budget transfers to the city manager. Councilor Sims and the mayor reported meeting with Mr. Smith, who suggested posting transfers in bi-weekly voucher reports so council can monitor changes.

Councilor Lane recommended requiring dual approval when a finance director is in place — specifically that the finance director and the city manager sign off on transfers — and asked that the interim arrangement assign oversight to Mr. Segrest until that hire is complete. Councilors also asked staff to prepare a one-page form documenting the transfer reason (for example, moving money "from supplies into tuition") so the action record is transparent.

Staff clarified the authority being asked for applies to transfers within individual funds (described in the discussion as "spheres") and does not move money between separate funds or change fund-level revenue; the goal is to provide flexibility for department-level appropriations with limits on dollar amounts. Council suggested striking an initial provision in the draft and leaving the remaining provisions to achieve the same operational effect; the city attorney was asked to prepare a clean version of the resolution.

Next steps: council signaled readiness to move the item to tonight's council agenda for a vote after the city attorney's review and presentation of a revised draft. The mayor and council asked staff to ensure the voucher report monitoring is in place to provide ongoing transparency.