As city officials wind up a New York trip intended to impress bond ratings agencies, the visit is drawing fire at home.

The Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, one of two state-appointed boards overseeing city finances, said the trip was "not authorized nor appropriate" because the city lacks the authority's go-ahead to borrow money.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, city finance director Scott Kunka, city council President Darlene Harris, council budget director Bill Urbanic and Councilman Ricky Burgess, the body's new finance director, were in New York on Thursday to seek ratings agencies' blessing of an $80 million bond issue and a $45 million refinancing.

"Early this week, the ICA learned that city officials planned to travel to New York to meet with representatives of certain financial institutions ... These efforts are not authorized nor appropriate because the city does not have an approved budget and financial plan or a strategic capital project plan in place," Clifford Levine, an attorney for the authority, said in a letter Wednesday to Mr. Ravenstahl.

The authority last month rescinded approval of the city's 2012 budget, saying officials hadn't established a trust fund for retiree health care, strengthened the capital budget process or met other conditions that overseers imposed in the fall.

Until the disagreements are resolved, the city cannot borrow money, Henry Sciortino, authority executive director, said Monday. Mr. Ravenstahl's office contends that the city can borrow the money without budget approval.

But in Wednesday's letter, the authority reiterated its position and warned city officials that they're on thin ice.

Until the budget issues are resolved, Mr. Levine said, pursuing a bond issue "is imprudent" and contrary to state law. Violation of state law, he added, "is a material fact which should be disclosed to financial advisors, bond underwriters, rating agencies and investors."

Mr. Ravenstahl Thursday night defended the trip, saying it's important that ratings agencies understand financial improvements the city has made on his watch.

"From my perspective, there's never a bad time to come and tell the good story," he said from New York.

Mr. Ravenstahl said the city should begin moving on the borrowing and refinancing now to take advantage of excellent interest rates. If ratings agencies improve the city's credit rating, he added, taxpayers potentially would save millions of dollars on the coming transactions.

Mr. Ravenstahl said the city delegation met with representatives of Fitch Ratings on Thursday and has meetings with Standard & Poor's and Moody's today. While Fitch analysts seemed well-versed in the city's story, he said, it made sense to deliver the message in person.

"I would characterize it as a good conversation," he said. "I think it was well-received."

The city-ICA spat comes as Mr. Ravenstahl seeks to end more than seven years of oversight. The letter is part of the ICA's efforts to be "relevant" and keep the city in oversight, mayoral spokeswoman Joanna Doven said, asserting that lawyers and other consultants make money on the ICA's work.

Mr. Ravenstahl's office said the city must lay the groundwork for the bond project now, partly because bondholders must be notified of a refinancing by March 1.

"We're doing what is in the best interest of city taxpayers, period," Ms. Doven said.

Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor's and Moody's have given the city a series of bond ratings upgrades in recent years, although two of the agencies have revised the city's financial outlook from "stable" to "negative" because of pension fund concerns.

City officials planned to remind the agencies that a council-led pension bailout in 2010 averted a state takeover of the pension fund.