He lost the Richmond mayor’s race.

But Jack Berry has found a new role — as interim assistant city manager for struggling Petersburg.

Robert C. Bobb, a consultant whom Petersburg hired to turn around the city’s finances, announced on Monday the appointment of Mr. Berry, former director of the Richmond booster group Venture Richmond and a former Hanover County manager.

The two men are well acquainted as Mr. Berry served as a deputy city manager when Mr. Bobb was city manager of Richmond in the late 1980s.

His 90-day appointment to beef up the government staff comes as Mr. Bobb and his team of consultants are moving closer to getting Petersburg back on its feet.

This week, Mr. Bobb disclosed to Petersburg City Council that the pile of unpaid bills has shrunk from around $18 million to about $6 million.

Next week, he and his staff will present the council with amendments to ensure the city ends the fiscal year with a balanced budget.

Among other things, Mr. Bobb said the amendments would allow the city to end a 10 percent pay cut for city police officers, firefighters and ambulance personnel in April and for the remaining city employees by July 1.

Mr. Bobb has told the council the 10 percent pay cut did not save money because the city has wound up paying more in overtime for employees after the pay slash was approved.

There have been some bumps. For example, last week, Petersburg agreed to pay $800,000 as its share of a $1.35 million settlement with 28 current and former police officers who sued the city for failing to pay required overtime. The state has agreed to pay $550,000.

Petersburg also had to be creative to clear the snow from last weekend’s storm. The city was able to get help from the Virginia Department of Transportation to assist in clearing the main streets.

Still, the city is moving ahead, Mr. Bobb indicated. He plans to present a proposed balanced budget in March for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

He and his staff also are working to deal with the remaining trove of unpaid bills, with Mr. Bobb considering refinancing debt in March to raise additional funds for that purpose.

At the same time, his staff is moving forward on a proposal to sell the city’s utilities to an outside company in order to help the city avoid the expense of having to improve or replace the underground water and wastewater pipes.