SOUTH BEND — It's a daunting task: find about $20 million to cut from the $67.2 million the city spends out of the general fund on services.

At the first of two town hall meetings to get community input, no consensus was reached, but there were a couple of recurring themes among the crowd of 140: Don't cut programs in the parks and don't compromise public safety.

"Last year, off duty officers responded to more than 6,000 calls without compensation. I don't know of any other city department that provides a service off duty," said Sgt. Gene Eyster.

In his 35 years with the South Bend Police Department, Eyster has seen a lot of changes. He doesn't think eliminating take home police cars should part of the next wave of change.

"A party that's down with a heart attack, that officer with the take home vehicle with an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) in the trunk doesn't say 'Sorry, I'm off duty.' These people are too dedicated to their jobs and their positions," he said.

The police and fire departments make up 65% of the general fund budget which is supported by property tax revenue. The next biggest chunk comes from parks (13.36%).

Parents say making cuts there has an impact on the police department.

"You've got to give the kids something to do otherwise they're going to find something for themselves to do and we're not going to like they do," said Barbara Lewis of South Bend.

Mayor Luecke agrees that's a concern, but says closing parks doesn't just impact the programs. It can impact new development in the city.

"As we sell our community as a place for research and development, there are things people will expect in this community," he said.

Deb Hudak came into the town hall meeting with ideas for cuts, but walked away not sure what should be eliminated. She's concerned about the recent hike in state sales tax and was surprised to learn that money doesn't make its way back to the city.

"I think there's a lot more that needs to be done down state to help us," Hudak said.

The city has also talked about a Local Option Income Tax to make up some of the funding being lost with the property tax caps. Luecke says that could make up about half of what the need to cut.

But of course that would also need to be approved by the county or Mishawaka and so far neither of those councils has wanted to do that.

There's another town hall meeting Thursday night at Northside Hall on the campus of I-U South Bend. The doors open at 5 p.m. and the presentation begins at 5:30.