VALLEJO -- The city of Vallejo was poised to approve a new budget Tuesday night that includes pink slips for an additional 16 police officers.

The Vallejo City Council was still debating the budget as of 10:30 p.m., but it was expected to pass.

It would leave the police department with fewer than 100 officers and only three detectives.

Blame it on the economy which has hit city revenues hard and is sparking new and controversial solutions from city leaders.

Janet Sylvain owns a custom sewing shop "Pieced on Earth" on Vallejo's Georgia Street.

"Just three years ago you couldn't find a place to rent. Downtown every place was full and then we had this huge decline in the economy and now we have about 50 per cent vacancy downtown," said Sylvain.

She said she's seen the impact the recession has had on downtown merchants: fewer customers and fewer police patrolling the area.

"As services get cut," said Sylvain, "when we have a small incident down here, we don't get the kind of response that you would expect. "

The Vallejo Police Department has been significantly reduced over the last three years. It's gone from a force 158 strong to 98 after Tuesday night's vote.

Robert Nichelini, Vallejo's Police Chief, noted, "We have the highest number of violent crimes of any city in California between 100,000 and 120,000 and lowest police department budget."

But Councilwoman Stephanie Gomes believes that budget, as small as it may be, might be stretched further if the city joined forces with the county in providing police services. She wants officials to look at contracting the Solano County Sheriff's Department to patrol city streets.

Gomes explained, "I'm not advocating getting rid of the police department, what I am advocating for achieving economy of scale and more better services to our public at lesser cost."

Solano County Sheriff Gary Stanton told KTVU he'd be happy to assist Vallejo, saying there are several ways it could be done. For example, deputies could take over certain shifts or certain portions of the city. He says the savings would be significant, since deputies earn on average, about $25,000 less per year than Vallejo police officers.

Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis said he didn't know whether that was a good idea or a bad idea. He said the council hasn't discussed a combined city-county law enforcement agency. But Davis agrees, things must change for Vallejo to recover from it's financial freefall.

"We will be looking at many different ways to restructure government. And that could be one of them," Davis said.

Some Bay Area cities contract out police services, but Vallejo's chief was quick to point out, none of them is the size of Vallejo.

But given the city's financial crisis, some say that's no reason not to try it.