The Benton Harbor City Commission approved the city’s 2026-27 budget Monday night, but not before several commissioners criticized the process as rushed and lacking transparency.
The budget passed on a 6-3 vote.
Commissioner Juanita Henry pushed to delay the vote, arguing commissioners finally had enough time to closely review the city’s finances instead of approving the budget shortly before the June 30 deadline.
“We never get a chance to look at it and break it down from line item to line item,” Henry said. “Now we have the opportunity.”
But Mayor Marcus Muhammad said the city needed to approve the budget quickly to stay on schedule for a $1 million loan through the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Henry later accused city leaders of forcing commissioners into another rushed timeline.
“And so now, we are in another timeline that we got to approve this budget without even looking at it — not even looking at it to see exactly what it’s saying and what it’s going to do to the residents of Benton Harbor,” Henry said.
Muhammad said the loan process required the city to move forward with the budget approval.
Three commissioners voted against the budget: Deidre Fields, Emma Kinnard and Ethel Clark-Griffin.
Commissioners also debated travel spending in the budget. Clark-Griffin questioned why each commissioner’s travel budget was limited to $1,600 while the mayor’s travel budget was set at $10,000.
Fields argued city leaders should focus more resources on local violence prevention efforts instead of travel outside the city.
