During the Aug. 31 city council work session, interim City Manager Tom Muehlenbeck presented the council with an option that would keep the mounted police patrolling downtown McKinney. The mounted patrol were nearly cut from the city's budget this year and placed in patrol vehicles as city staffers said funding for the patrol could be more useful if spent in the McKinney Police Department's patrol division. Residents, however, voiced their desires to keep the mounted police downtown saying the horses brought a small-town charm to the historic district that they were not ready to see leave. Council members agreed and during last month's budget retreat asked the city manager to bring in another option that would not only meet the need for three additional officers but also keep the mounted patrol. These positions were added back into the budget by removing $400,000 from the depreciation fund. "This was the only place we could find these types of dollars to fund that," Muehlenbeck said. A public hearing for the budget and proposed tax rate will take place this evening at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 222 N. Tennessee St.