City Budget Hearings Continue, Public Hearing Postponed

by Gabe BullardThe Louisville Metro Council's budget review process enters its third week Monday.The Budget Committee spent the last two weeks hearing from city departments and external agencies about the mayor's proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year. This afternoon, the committee will hear from economic development departments today, including Greater Louisville, Inc., PARC and the Convention and Visitor's Bureau.The second and final public hearing on the budget planned for this evening has been postponed. The hearing was scheduled for 6-8 pm, but that time conflicts with the visitation for Councilman George Unseld, who died last week. The hearing will now be held Thursday at 5:30 pm.The first public hearing was dominated by representatives from external arts and social services agencies. The representatives asked for funds that were to be cut to be restored. The council often changes a portion of the mayor's budget, and the agency grants are often amended.The mayor's proposed budget anticipates a roughly one percent growth in revenue. That's not enough to offset increases in operating costs, though, so the budget carries over the cuts that were made in previous years.The full council is expected to pass a final budget on June 24^th.