CHICAGO -- The Michigan city of Benton Harbor, which is under emergency management, hopes to win a $2.3 million loan from the state to erase its deficit.
It's the third time the city, in southwest Michigan, has asked for a state loan. It's been denied the other times, according to local reports.
City commissioners had been scheduled to vote on the loan Monday, but the meeting was postponed because of the polar weather that has paralyzed Michigan.
The commissioners had rejected a previous request from the emergency manager, Tony Saunders. If they reject the latest one, they will have seven days to propose an alternative plan.
The city's mayor, James Hightower, put out a press release supporting the loan. "To oppose something like this is a demonstration of the type of mindset that put the city under state control in the first place," he said.
The state's Local Emergency Financial Assistance Loan Board has to approve any deficit plan, including the loan. The city reportedly has a $2.2 million deficit, including $1.3 million in its general fund.
Voters in the city of 10,000 defeated a request for an income-tax increase last November.
Benton Harbor has been under state control for three years. Saunders took over in early 2013 from emergency manager Joseph Harris, who is also a former CFO of Detroit.
