FERGUSON, Mo. (Reuters) - The Ferguson, Missouri, city council on Tuesday inched closer to accepting a deal with the U.S. Justice Department to reform the city’s police after the 2014 shooting of an unarmed black teenager there became a flashpoint in U.S. racial tensions.

A protester yells at a police line shortly before shots were fired in a police-officer involved shooting in Ferguson, Missouri August 9, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

The council on Tuesday, after receiving assurances from the Justice Department last week that it will work with Ferguson to ensure the decree would be implemented without crippling the city financially, set a special meeting on the deal for March 15.

Officials indicated they will likely accept the terms of the agreement.

The fatal shooting of unarmed Michael Brown, 18, by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, who is white, exposed friction between the city government and the largely black community. Ferguson erupted into violent protests in 2014 after a grand jury chose not to indict the officer.

Last, year a U.S. investigation found systemic racial bias targeted blacks and created a “toxic environment” in Ferguson, but cleared the white officer in the fatal shooting.

The report said the St. Louis suburb overwhelmingly arrested and issued traffic citations to blacks to boost city coffers through fines, used police as a collection agency and created a culture of distrust that exploded when Wilson fatally shot Brown.

About 20 protesters were at the meeting, calling on officials to make sweeping changes and carrying signs reading “stop the black tax,” in reference to the racially based practices outlined in the report.

The council accepted the basic terms of the agreement last month, but asked federal officials to make changes related to pay levels for police officers and staffing levels at the jail. It also wanted additional time to comply.

If the council votes to approve the agreement without changes, a lawsuit filed by U.S. prosecutors against the city would be resolved. The agreement also calls on the city to work in good faith with federal officials.

The agreement requires the police department to give officers bias-awareness training and implement an accountability system. The city also agreed that police must ensure that stop, search and arrest practices do not discriminate on the basis of race or other factors protected under law.

The settlement also requires the city to change its municipal code, including sections that impose prison time for failure to pay certain fines.

The city has steadily been rolling out reforms on items such as court fines and bail bonds.