In front of a packed house at the Civic Center, Council was debating whether to cut money from several non-profits in an effort to cut down on the 2019 budget.

Many local residents showed up in support of those non-profits, arguing against cutting anything from their budgets.

Affordable housing, the Metropolitan Evansville Transit System, and road projects were big topics of discussion.

An amendment to cut METS by $100,000 was mentioned as well as decreasing the affordable housing fund from $500,000 to $100,000, which was not approved.

Council did pass a 2% raise for city workers, but Mayor Lloyd Winnecke along with Justin Elpers and Jonathan Weaver opted to not accept that raise.

After several hours of public comment, Council voted 8 to 1, passing the $395 million budget. Councilman Jonathan Weaver was the only member to vote against the budget, saying the current 2018 budget is already $13 million over budget.