Could a South Carolina city council add to or limit a city manager's duties after adopting council-manager government?

Plain-English summary

Tega Cay's mayor pro tem asked how city-manager authority could change after voters adopted a council-manager form of government. An Assistant Attorney General said in a November 2002 informal opinion that the council could assign additional duties consistent with state municipal law. Council could also alter or repeal its own added duties. It could not take away tasks the statute assigned to the manager, nor give the manager legislative or policy-making power reserved to council.

The opinion described council as the municipal policy-making body and the manager as chief executive of the administrative branch, responsible to council for municipal administration. On the request's contract-signing example, a footnote said a cited case implied the manager could be granted authority to make binding agreements in furtherance of city policies. The letter did not decide the validity of any specific Tega Cay contract.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2002. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could council give the manager extra administrative duties? A: The AG said yes if the duties were consistent with the municipal-government provisions.

Q: Could council remove duties the statute assigned to the manager? A: No. The opinion distinguished statutory duties from additional council-assigned tasks.

Q: Could the manager set municipal policy?
A: No. The opinion said legislative and policy-making power remained with council.

Background and statutory framework

The letter used §5-13-30 for council's legislative and policy role and Section 5-13-90 for the manager's administrative role and assigned duties. It distinguished council's authority to add consistent duties from authority to displace statutory responsibilities.

Citations and references

• §5-13-30: council's legislative and policy powers.
• Section 5-13-90: manager's executive and administrative duties.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/november-27-2002/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/02nov-27-tesla.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CHARLIE CONDON
AITORNEY GENERAL

November 27, 2002

The Honorable Judith G. Tesla
Mayor Pro Tern, City of Tega Cay
7000 Tega Cay Drive
Tega Cay, South Carolina 29708-3399

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Re: Council/Manager form of municipal government
Dear Ms. Tesla:
You have requested an opinion from this Office concerning the duties of a city manager in a Council/Manager form of municipal government. You indicate that the citizens of the City of Tega Cay have recently voted to change the form of government in Tega Cay from Council/Mayor to CounciVManager and that there is some confusion as to the role of the city manger in the new governmental structure. As an example, you indicate that there is some confusion as to whether the manager or the mayor should sign contracts which have been negotiated on behalf of the city. Given this background, you specifically ask, "[ c]an the authority and responsibility of the city manager be expanded or limited?"

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In the Council/Manager form of municipal government "[a]ll legislative powers of the municipality and the determination of all matters of policy shall be vested in the municipal council, each member, including the mayor, to have one vote." See S.C. Code Ann. §5-13-30. The council is to employ a city manager to carry out the legislative and policy decisions it makes. Id. Section 5-13-90 provides that "[t]he manager shall be the chief executive officer and head of the administrative branch of the municipal government [and] [h]e shall be responsible to the municipal council for the proper administration of all affairs of the municipality .... " Subsections (I)-( 4) of 5-13-90 set forth the specific responsibilities of the manager and subsection (5) provides that the manager shall "[p]erform such other duties as may be prescribed by law or required of him by the municipal council, not inconsistent with the provisions of [Title 5] Chapters I through 17" of the Code. Based on the above, it is my opinion that a municipal council may authorize the city manager to perform duties which are in addition to those specifically set out in the Code as long as the duties are not inconsistent with the provisions of Title 5. 1 Conversely, it is evident that a 1

As to the specific example cited in your request, Townes Associates, Ltd. v. City of Greenville, 266 S.C. 81, 221 S.E.2d 773 (1976), implies that a city manager can be granted the authority to make binding agreements in furtherance of city policies. REMBERT

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POST OFFICE Box 11549

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COLUMBIA,

s.c. 29211-1549

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TELEPHONE: 803-734-3970

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FACSIMILE: 803-253-6283

The Honorable Judith Tesla
November 27, 2002
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manager may have those additional duties limited should the city council alter, amend or repeal the legislative acts or policy decisions which initially prescribed the duties. Council cannot, however, limit the manager's responsibility to perform those tasks specifically assigned to him in subsections (1)-(4) of 5-13-90 as such would be inconsistent with the provisions of Section 5-1390(5). Additionally, council cannot prescribe any duties for the manager which amount to a delegation oflegislative or policy making powers. See Todd v. Smith. et al., 305 S.C. 227, 407 S.E.2d 644 (1991 )(Section 5-13-30 establishes in a city council all legislative and policy making power and city manager has no authority to set city policy). This letter is an informal opinion only. It has been written by a designated Assistant Attorney General and represents the position of the undersigned attorney as to the specific question asked. It has not, however, been personally scrutinized by the Attorney General and not officially published in the manner of a formal opinion.

Assistant Attorney General

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