The number of Dallas police officers could shrink and city employees might have to face eight or more furlough days in the coming budget year, City Manager Mary Suhm said at large meetings of City Hall staffers Thursday.

Dallas' budget troubles are well-known, but until Thursday Suhm had not publicly suggested reducing the number of police officers or instituting furloughs that amount to nearly two weeks of lost pay for employees. City workers have five furlough days in the current fiscal year.

During the meetings, she told employees to expect lean times ahead as the city tries to fill a $130 million gap in its $2 billion budget.

"This is a hard, hard thing. I need your help. I need your suggestions," she said.

The plan to reduce the number of police officers is the biggest indication yet of just how hard it will be.

Increasing the police force has been a bedrock priority of the City Council, and before Thursday Suhm had said only that the department would not add officers next year.

Now she is talking about letting the force shrink.

"We may not hire for all of attrition. As guys retire, we don't replace all of them," she said.

Glenn White, president of the Dallas Police Association, said that Suhm has discussed not replacing about half of the officers who retire next year. He estimated that an average of about 140 to 160 officers on the 3,660-member force retire each year, though the number can fluctuate significantly year to year.

White said his group's members are largely agreeable to Suhm's plan.

"That's just all possibilities, nothing has been firmed up. We certainly could use more [officers], but if it comes down to officers taking a pay cut so we could hire more, it's counterproductive," he said.

It's far from clear, however, that the City Council will accept a smaller force.

Mayor Tom Leppert did not reject the idea out of hand. He said Thursday that the city has more flexibility in staffing levels than it once did because Dallas has aggressively increased the size of its police force for several years and has seen a corresponding drop in crime.

"I think she's trying to put a lot of different options on the table. It's still very much of a moving exercise," he said of Suhm.

Leppert said Suhm "has to look at everything" but that public safety remains his first priority.

Council member Steve Salazar, a veteran of City Hall who has pushed for a bigger force, said that any plans to cut back on police numbers should be a cause for concern.

"This will be the first time in the history I've served they've talked about not hiring for officers who have retired or resigned," he said.

Salazar has proposed raising the property-tax rate by 3 cents – to 77.79 cents per $100 in home value – to spare city services. He said that those on the council who would support cutting police and oppose a tax increase are breaking the city.

"If you look at this [plan to cut police] and what we're doing to our parks and libraries, we are basically bankrupting the city of services just to appease the few who don't want to raise taxes," he said.

Leppert responded that keeping taxes stable is the key to Dallas' long-term recovery, to attracting new businesses and residents.

During Thursday's meetings, employees turned out in force, with nearly 1,000 attending the first meeting, packing the City Hall auditorium, council chambers and the council's briefing room.

Suhm faced blunt questions from employees about their immediate futures.

Her answers were just as blunt; Expect pay cuts, furloughs and layoffs.

"We cut residents' services last year. We just can't keep cutting their services and not look at our salaries," she said.

Suhm and her staff have already whittled about $50 million out of the $130 million gap.

But there are $80 million in services she wants funded but doesn't expect to have money for, including hours at libraries and recreation centers, street repairs and a host of other important city services.

For the first time, Suhm suggested an increase in the number of employee furlough days next year.

Five of the furlough days have already been discussed publicly, but Suhm said Thursday that she might recommend instituting three additional "floating" furlough days that employees could take when they'd like.

Each furlough amounts to the loss of a day's wages.

Suhm stressed that police and firefighters will join in the furloughs this year – something they haven't had to do to date.

Employees asked sharp questions about the city's priorities.

One question, read by city spokesman Frank Librio, asked why the city could spend lavishly on projects such as the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge while employees were forced to take pay cuts.

Suhm responded that such projects are about the future. West Dallas is already seeing a flow of investment because of the bridge, she said.

"The city has to keep growing, and that is one of the things that helps keep it growing. We have to think about what our community is going to be in the future," she said.

Suhm was asked repeatedly about whether she would be joining employees in taking a pay cut.

She said she will take the same pay cut as other employees for all furlough days and that executives will take a higher-percentage pay cut than other employees.

She also was asked about the City Council's pay and its members' frequent trips abroad and around the country.

She said the council probably won't get a pay raise or take a pay cut – something that requires a change to the city charter.