CLEVELAND -- The city of Cleveland will send out 260 layoff notices next week, mostly to younger employees who work for the police and fire departments, as well as EMS.

The city wants the unions to agree to four percent paycuts. Non-union employees will receive those cuts in the form of ten furlough days.

Several other unions have also agreed to the furlough days.

"In public safety, furloughs may not be the most practical thing, so we're asking for an equivalent amount of money," says Mayor Frank Jackson.

The Mayor says he's open to ways other than furloughs to balance the budget except for deferring costs. "We're not going to defer a cost into next year because I'm just pushing the trouble off," Jackson said.

The head of the fire union tells Fox 8 News his members have offered wage and pension savings. The head of the EMS union says they will present a proposal to the city on Wednesday.

Mayor Jackson says he is making the same offer across-the-board to all the unions that the non-union employees have to take. He says if the unions agree to the cuts, "they will save their members from having to be laid off. If they do not, then the law requires I balance the budget, and I will. And I will collect that money by removing people from the payroll."

Jackson adds that if everyone takes the cut, it is 95 percent certain that there will be no layoffs in Cleveland in 2010.

Even if the layoff notices are mailed, they can be rescinded if the unions reach deals with the city. If not, the layoffs would take effect next month.