jayne miller joins us live from city hall. >> mayor stephanie rawlings- blake says it is the worst budget crisis in the city and 19 years. the plan detail today is one she hopes the city will not have to deal with. the budget crisis is so severe, even police and fire department feel the pain. >> in this fiscal crisis, they cannot go untouched. >> these cuts are particularly tough. >> andrew klein delivered the preliminary budget plan this morning. it is intended to close the budget deficit, the result of a drop in state highway funds, income tax revenues, an exploding engine of. english is the layoffs of more than 600 city employees. 120 in the police department, 91 in the var department. seven city fire houses were closed. 29 rec centers would close. >> no one has been spare, no agency, and the budget reflects that. >> this is not the plan and the mayor wants. she will present a different one in three weeks, including new proposals to raise the million dollars in new revenues. translation, new taxes and fees. but not touching the property tax. >> i would not prefer to increase the proper

linda sow joins us live from city hall. linda, good morning. >> reporter: the mayor has made it very clear, these are going to be painful cuts, but cuts that are necessary to balance the books. the police and fire departments make up about half of the city's budget. the mayor's proposal includes laying off about 200 cops and 100 firefighters, more than half the city's rec centers would also close. the city's bulk trash pick-up would be no more. >> it's a tough time for the city, but everybody has a responsibility to step up to the plate and volunteer more with the neighborhood association. >> reporter: now we should learn more about the proposed budget cuts at the next council meeting. what will stay and what will go. that meeting is set for april 12th. live at city hall, linda sow, abc2 news. >>> the maryland senate has approved the $13 billion budget and budget reconciliation bill. the state senators cut $120 million from governor o'malley's proposal. >> one bill expected to easily pass the house, ban on talking on your c

linda show joins us live from city hall about how this round will hurt. linda? >> the picture isn't pretty here at city hall. we know massive cuts are coming and popular services will also be cut. police and fire departments make up about half of the city's budget. if there's major cutting to be done, that's where much of it comes from. laying off about 200 police officers and 100 firefighters. at this point nothing is final. mayor rawlings blake says this is the first step in the budget process and some of the cuts could be avoided. >> looking to make reductions to try to do more with less. after taking a look at what was leftover, trying to get a comprehensive revenue package through so we can restore some of those public safety cuts. >> reporter: half of the city's rec centers could also close and the city's bulk trash pick-up program could be eliminated. the next city council meeting is slated for april 12th. >> to find out more about the proposed cuts, log onto our website, abc2news.com. click on links mentioned on the air. you can read the preliminary budge

abc2 news linda sow joins us live from city hall. >> a lot of people are concerned about that, there'sf cutting so many police officers and firefighters. whatever happens, the mayor says it's not going to be pretty and cuts are necessary to balance the books. the fire and police departments make up about half of the city's budget. if there's major cutting to be done, that's where it will come from. the mayor's proposal is to get rid of 200 cops and 100 firefighters. more than half the city's rec centers would also close. the city's bulk trash pick-up program would be no more. >> it's a tough time for the city. everybody has a responsibility to step up to the plate and volunteer a little bit more with the neighborhood association. >> we'll be learning more about the proposed budget cuts at the next city council meeting. we could learn if taxes could go up. we're live at city hall, linda sow, abc2 news. >> all you have to do is log onto our website abc2news.com. look under links mentioned on the air. we'll connect you to the city's website and you can read all the preliminary budget info

expected to consider some the recommendations from her transition team in order to cut the city's deep deficit. megan gilliland joins us live from city hallat report. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, patrice. the mayor's transition team is reporting back with many examples of waste and mismanagement, things from trash to vacant homes. the 150-member team singled out the house and park's department in particular, recommending that the mayor create a program to get rid of the vacant homes across the city. the team recommended extracting property tax nonprofits like hospitals and schools. they also asked the mayor to consider privatizing trash collection. it's an idea som some residentsy it's just a waste. >> you can privatize and do whatever you want. the mayor can waste money, the taxpayer which is me, it comes out of my check, waste my money by privatizing, but on top of this ain't nothing going to be done. it's just a waste. >> reporter: at this point, these are just recommendations and the mayor will release her final budget plan today. right now the city is facing a $121 million deficit and in these tough times the mayor