The city is considering eliminating as many as 22 public safety positions, 15 from the fire department and seven from the police department, by 2015. City officials say budget projections won’t allow the city to sustain its workforce, and since 70 percent of the general fund is earmarked to public safety, that’s where the majority of cuts must come.

What will occur tonight is anyone’s guess.

As council member Anita Scott Jones said: “I wouldn’t bet half a paycheck on what’s going to happen.” She didn’t want to speak for the other council members, but predicted “an interesting conversation.”

She wishes the city had enough money to do what’s needed, but “I wish I made a million dollars and I don’t have that.”

Then she added: “This is not a good position to be in. Some hard decisions have to be made.”

Council member Josh Laubach said he also was unsure how council will vote on the budget. He predicted a “robust discussion.”

Fellow council member Ann Mort said if the city continues to spend at its current pace, and revenue projections are accurate, the city will be “really broke” in a few years.

“There will be no money if we continue on this course,” she said. “It’s got to change. Either the salaries or the people have to be cut or taxes have to be raised. Take your pick.”

Cris Kelly, president of the FOP Local 36, and Chris Klug, vice president of IAFF Local 336, certainly don’t want the cuts to come out of the public safety budget.

Kelly said police officers in the city are worried because “it’s not safe to do our jobs.” He said officers are going from call to call, and if proposed cuts are made, residents should expect slower response times and the elimination of some police services.

“We will be responding to crime instead of preventing crime,” Kelly said.

At an earlier press conference, Klug told the crowd of about 50 who crammed into the area near City Council Chambers: “We are not giving up this fight. We will not let this happen.”

City Manager Judy Gilleland said she’d like to reduce the size of the city’s fire department from 79 positions to 64 by the end of 2014, which would include nine firefighters and six grant-funded positions. No positions can be lost until the grant terminates in September 2014, she said.

As a way to possibly save the positions, the fire division employees could opt for wage and benefits reductions, Gilleland said. She said firefighters work shifts of 24 hours on, then 48 hours off, and she said a different schedule — one used in other cities — could be more cost effective. But, she said, the fire union has been “unwilling” to change the employees’ work schedules.

She’d also like for the city to reduce the size of the police department by seven, the four police officers whose salaries are funded through grants and not fill the three vacant positions: two dispatchers and one corrections officer.

She said $2.25 million needs to be reduced in general fund expenditures over the next two to three years and those cuts are set to be split proportionally among police, fire and non-public safety.

Gilleland said the 2014 budget is her recommendation to “achieve a minimal reduction” in the level of services throughout the city.

Gilleland said over the last two years, and for eight of the last 10 years, the city has had an operating deficit.

Middletown Mayor Lawrence Mulligan Jr. added: “We must control our spending and live within our means, like any household or family. There are examples of cities that failed to address spending and are facing drastic cuts and bankruptcy. Due to rising personnel costs, we are spending more and getting fewer services for our dollar.”