( KTRS ) For the second time in less than a year, Ferguson residents have approved a tax increase to help the city rebound from the financial hit it took following Michael Browns death

The approved 2 percent hike in the “business license utility tax”, will reportedly create an additional $700,000 every year. City Manager De’Carlon Seewood says that money will allow the hiring of five police officers, avoid firefighter layoffs and keep a firehouse open.

This past April, Ferguson voters approved a sales tax increase and narrowly defeated a property tax increase.

18 yr old Michael Brown, was fatally shot in August 2014. His death sparked months of civil unrest and sometimes violent altercations between rioters, protesters and police.