The limitation of the coefficients to the set $\{0,1,\dots,b-1\}$ is used when it’s shown that if $n=r_kb^k+r_{k-1}b^{k-1}+\ldots+r_tb^t$ with $r_k\ne 0\ne r_t$, then
$n-1=r_kb^k+r_{k-1}b^{k-1}+\ldots+(r_t-1)b^t+\sum_{j=0}^{t-1}(b-1)b^j\;:$
this wouldn’t be a valid representation of $n-1$ if $b-1$ were not in the set of possible coefficients.
For the balanced ternary system with coefficients in $\{-1,0,1\}$ I’d be inclined to start from scratch rather than to try to deduce a representation theorem from the usual one. Start with uniqueness. Suppose that $n\in\Bbb Z$ has two balanced ternary representations, say
$n=\sum_{k=0}^rc_k3^k=\sum_{k=0}^sd_k3^k\;,$
where $r\le s$ and all $c_k,d_k\in\{-1,0,1\}$; then if we let $c_k=0$ for $r we can write
$\sum_{k=0}^s(d_k-c_k)3^k=0\;.$
The coefficients $d_k-c_k$ are all in the set $\{-2,-1,0,1,2\}$.
Lemma. If $a_k\in\{-2,-1,0,1,2\}$ for $k=0,\dots,t$ and $a_t\ne0$, then $\sum_{k=0}^ta_k3^k\ne0$.
Proof. Without loss of generality assume that $a_t>0$. (Otherwise just multiply everything by $-1$.) Then $\sum_{k=0}^ta_k3^k\ge 3^t-2\sum_{k=0}^{t-1}3^k=3^t-2\frac{3^t-1}{3-1}=3^t-\left(3^t-1\right)=1\;.\qquad\qquad\dashv$
It follows from the lemma that the coefficients $d_k-c_k$ are all $0$ and hence that the two representations of $n$ are identical.
To show that each $n\in\Bbb Z$ has at least one balanced ternary representation, it suffices to show that each positive integer has one: clearly if $n=\sum_{k=0}^rc_k3^k$, then $-n=\sum_{k=0}^r(-c_k)3^k$. Suppose, then, that there is at least one positive integer with no balanced ternary representation, and let $n$ be the smallest such integer. Clearly $n>1$, so by hypothesis there are a non-negative integer $r$ and $c_k\in\{-1,0,1\}$ for $k=0,\dots,r$ such that $n-1=\sum_{k=0}^rc_k3^k$. If $c_0\ne 1$, $n=(c_0+1)+\sum_{k=1}^rc_k3^k$ is a valid representation of $n$, so we must have $c_0=1$. If some $c_k\ne 1$, let $s$ be minimal such that $c_s\ne1$. Then
$\begin{align*} n&=\sum_{k=s+1}^rc_k3^k+c_s3^s+\sum_{k=0}^{s-1}3^k+1\\ &=\sum_{k=s+1}^rc_k3^k+c_s3^s+\frac{3^s-1}{3-1}+1\\ &=\sum_{k=s+1}^rc_k3^k+c_s3^s+\frac{3^s+1}2\\ &=\sum_{k=s+1}^rc_k3^k+c_s3^s+\left(3^s-\frac{3^s-1}2\right)\\ &=\sum_{k=s+1}^rc_k3^k+c_s3^s+(c_s+1)3^s-\sum_{k=0}^{s-1}3^k\;. \end{align*}$
Now $c_s\ne 1$, so $c_s+1\in\{-1,0,1\}$, Thus, if we let $d_k=-1$ for $k=0,\dots,s-1$, $d_s=c_s+1$, and $d_k=c_k$ for $k=s+1,\dots,r$, $n=\sum_{k=0}^rd_k3^k$ is a valid balanced ternary representation of $n$. This contradiction shows that every positive integer has a balanced ternary representation and hence that every integer has one.