Here he comes to save the day.

At least that’s the big hope in Petersburg after Robert C. Bobb, a former Richmond city manager, was called in to help the beleaguered city correct its finances and deal with a stream of public and private creditors badgering the city for payment.

On Tuesday, the Petersburg City Council voted 5-1 at a special meeting to hire Mr. Bobb’s Washington-based consulting firm to assess the city’s situation and provide guidance on putting the city government on sound footing.

However, the City Council left it unclear how the Robert Bobb Group would fit in with interim City Manager Dironna Moore Belton and whether the group or she would make decisions on operations and expenditures.

The consulting group, which will report to Petersburg City Council, will not come cheap for a six-month stint. While the council did not initially release the cost, several people with knowledge of the contract told the Free Press that the council has agreed to pay the Bobb Group at least $350,000, plus $25,000 in expenses for its expertise.

City Council members later said the cost would be covered using funding from vacant positions, such as the finance director’s post.

As the city has not issued any financial statements, it is unclear whether money is available or whether Ms. Belton has used it to cover current bills.

Petersburg Mayor W. Howard Myers said the council agreed to turn to Mr. Bobb because “this is an emergency situation.” Mr. Bobb’s firm specializes in helping local governments improve their financial condition.

The mayor began pushing to hire Mr. Bobb after receiving an email from him last week offering his firm’s services.

Mr. Bobb is expected to oversee the work of staff members assigned to Petersburg.

Ms. Belton, for now, is still the interim city manager, although it appears her prospects for winning the job on a permanent basis are dimming. One of Mr. Bobb’s duties will be to recommend prospects for the city manager position.

Ms. Belton previously served as manager of the Petersburg Area Transit Co. She was hired as interim city manager in March after the previous city manager was fired. Since then, she has fixed a water billing system that was in chaos and then scrambled to pay down more than $14 million in unpaid bills that the city accumulated over at least the last five years.

She seemed to be gaining ground with the help of financial experts from the state and from other consultants, who helped diagnose Petersburg’s situation.

Among other things, Ms. Belton got the City Council to bring the city’s proposed spending in line with projected revenue. In early September, facing her threat to shut down the government for lack of funds, City Council cut $12.5 million in spending and boosted some taxes and fees to create a balanced budget.

Still, her close-to-the-vest management style has left some council members uncertain that she has a handle on the situation. Most felt blindsided after learning about creditor lawsuits and other issues through calls from reporters or Facebook posts.

For example, she failed to notify City Council when the Southeast Waste Management Authority sued the city for about $1.4 million in past due payments for providing sewage treatment. The city was embarrassed when a Circuit Court judge ordered fees residents pay for the service put into a receivership to ensure the authority was paid.

And she has yet to secure a short-term loan that she and the consultants claimed was essential to stabilize finances.

Mr. Bobb has long experience in local government, although his success record has been checkered.

He served as Richmond’s city manager from 1986 until 1997, following earlier experience in Santa Ana, Calif., and Kalamazoo, Mich.

When he left Richmond, the city was struggling, and the two major department stores in Downtown were closed.

He later served as city manager in Oakland, Calif., under then Mayor Jerry Brown and in Washington, D.C., where he went on to win election to and serve as chairman of the city’s School Board.

In 2009, he went to Detroit to try to resolve the financial problems of the public school system that was awash with red ink. He was unable to overcome the deep deficit before he left about two years later because of illness.

After recovering, he formed his consulting firm. Four years ago, Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones hired him and his firm to provide recommendations on school spending, although the Richmond School Board ultimately rejected most of his ideas.