As many as 600 employees of the City of Baltimore could receive layoff notices next week, reports the Baltimore Sun. 350 positions, however, could be saved if the city counsel agrees to hike taxes. Most of those positions currently on the chopping block involve jobs in public works and parks and recreation.

The layoffs, according to the Sun, are the result of $121 million deficit in the city’s budget for the next fiscal year and the first round of cuts, approximately 250 workers, will go into effect July 1. Most of the mainly blue-collar workers, the article points out, live and work in the city, making up “the fabric of the community.”