The council members also said at various points that they were irked by unauthorized bonuses issued by then-Mayor Dwight C. Jones and roller-coaster-like financial reporting last year that led administrators to stop cutting grass on city property only to disclose this month that they had closed out the year with a $13 million surplus.

Hilbert, the City Council president, initially opposed the increased oversight but ultimately voted with the majority despite voicing concerns that it would put the council “in the weeds.” He asked Stoney to accept the council’s will.

“I’m going to go out on a limb,” Hilbert said. “I’m going to ask the mayor not to veto this. ... We have a situation where we’ve been confronted with some issues on the budget, and people are concerned with that,” he added. “And that happened under previous administrations. But I would ask the mayor to accept that life is not fair and we may get stuck with consequences with which we had nothing to do.”

In an interview after the vote, Stoney was noncommittal as to whether a veto will be forthcoming. Under the city charter, he has 14 days to make a decision.