Cincinnati residents will have one last chance Thursday evening to offer comments on the city's proposed two-year budget.
A large crowd attended Tuesday night's hearing in Mt. Airy with 27 people offering testimony.
Many of them spoke in favor of the city providing a $550,000 loan for the Clifton Market. David Allen said it is an urgent need.
"When Keller's closed we lost foot traffic on Ludlow," Allen said. "That meant we lost business, we had a lot of stores there, businesses lost from 30 to 50 percent of their business when Keller's closed. We've had stores close."
The city administration said last week in a memo it is not a good idea, and could risk the city's money. But some council members seem to disagree.
Once again others offered support for $3 million of city funding for human services agencies that receive money using the United Way-managed process.
Resident Cheryl Meadows addressed the need for the manager's proposal to issue more debt to re-pave more city streets.
"The streets are in horrible condition. No matter where I travel, I'm going over potholes," Meadows said. "Potholes that have been refilled several times and that are still open. Uneven pavement is all over the place."
The final budget hearing is Thursday evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Price Hill Recreation Center located at 959 Hawthorne Avenue.
City council members will begin discussing changes to the city manager's proposed budget next week and final approval is set for June 17.
