FERGUSON — On a narrow 4-3 vote, the Ferguson City Council has decided to reduce the amount the city spends to implement the federal consent decree that began nine years ago to overhaul the city's police and municipal courts.

The council voted this week to pay for some decree-related costs only through the first half of the city's upcoming fiscal year that begins July 1 and deleted money for the second half. But the move wouldn't reduce city spending on related police training.

Councilman Nick Kasoff, who sponsored the motion to cut some decree-related funding for the fiscal year to $206,350 from $412,700, said at the Tuesday meeting that his goal is to try to get the decree phased out by the end of December.

That would require approval of the federal judge overseeing the decree.

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