Time is running out to finalize a budget in Minnesota’s capital city.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter proposed an $855 million budget for 2025, but the city council has countered with a proposal that would trim $6 million from the mayor’s spending plan.

Mayor Carter told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the city council’s budget would cut $2.3 million from police and could lead to a reduction of 16 officers, which he said would not move the city forward.

“Our police officers are not in it by themselves. But, they are certainly an important and critical part of that public safety infrastructure that we’ve built here in St. Paul and we cannot afford to go backwards at all,” said Carter.

The mayor said the city council’s proposal could also lead to cuts in library services.

“That amounts to closures, reductions of hours on weekends, or after school and those types of things. That’s a significant impact,” said Carter.

City Council President Mitra Jalali told KSTP the council does not intend to fixate on cutting officers from SPPD.

“The council’s concern, I think, is heavily with police overtime,” said Jalali. “Like, what do we have to do to get our staffing model more appropriate, to hire up more officers and to find ways to actually, at a certain point, to pump the brakes on overspending.”

Jalali also said the council’s proposal would look to save money through library attrition and not reductions.

It is not the intention of the city council to roll back services on existing parks and library hours,” said Jalali. “Like, that would be a disservice to our community and I am grateful the mayor shares that commitment and the council does as well.”

The city council and mayor hope to continue negotiations over the next two weeks and have a finalized, approved budget on Dec. 11.