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"To not ask for it, sort of is absurd," links of london charms director Deborah Velders said. Velders and the organization's board of directors say the museum's contribution to the community through art education warrants public funding. "At some point the budget crisis will pass, and so we'll continue to ask because we do feel like we provide a public service and deserve public funding," the museum board's chairwoman, Frances Goodman, said. The city is facing a projected $6 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, and it's unlikely officials will find extra spending cash. "To add anything to the budget for next year will be a challenge," City Manager Sterling Cheatham said. The city also decided about four years ago to treat agency Links of London Red Friendship Bracelet on a biannual basis, and fiscal year 2011-12 will be the second year of the current agency funding. That means the agencies that got funding last year will likely get the same amount of money and the process won't be opened for newapplications. "We don't anticipate opening up the process for everybody to request funds all over again," Cheatham said. The city's funding for nonprofit agencies has decreased by 26 percent since fiscal year 2009, from more than $1 million to $755,854 this year. And New Hanover County Commissioners Links of London S Charm Jason Thompson said he won't consider anything outside the normal budgeting process. He says it's time for the county to stop taking year-round requests. But both city and county officials say they will at least take the museum's request under consideration. "I don't blame them for asking," Thompson said. City Councilman Ronald Sparks said the city will weigh all the Links of London Small Sweetie Golden Bracelet it receives and the organization's contribution to the community. To deal with its own budget woes, the museum has had to make cuts in staffing and refocus its efforts, Goodman said. "Funding for the arts has always been a struggle, even in the best of times," she said.