The mayor will share the pain as well, cutting his own $186,000 salary by 10 percent. His senior aides, including the police and fire commissioners, will also see pay reductions and be among 2,000 exempt employees who face mandatory unpaid furloughs.

What he would not do, Nutter said, is cut what he described as core services. To that end, no police or firefighters will be laid off, no recreation centers will be closed, and weekly trash collection will continue. While five engines and two ladders are being taken out of service, no firehouses will close.

Still, the services to be curtailed or reduced to bridge a five-year $1 billion budget gap are significant: 11 libraries and 68 pools will be closed; small residential streets will no longer be plowed when it snows; and collection of curbside leaf piles, bulk trash, and tires will be discontinued.

A promised 400 new officers for street patrol was reduced to 200. And recently enacted business and wage tax cuts were delayed.

City government will shrink by 800 positions - including 220 with employees who will receive layoff notices in the next few weeks. The remaining positions are vacant.

To mitigate the problem, if just a little, legislation increasing parking, licenses and inspections, and false-alarm fees was introduced yesterday in City Council.

Nutter also announced the creation of a "private-sector task force" to help the city run more efficiently.

"In my February budget address, I warned that the national economy was faltering, storm clouds were visible in the distance, and tax collections were slowing down," Nutter said in a 10-minute live television address at 6ABC. "Now this economic storm has arrived at our doorstep."

It did so in the form of dramatically dropping revenue.

For example, business-privilege tax receipts were 9.1 percent below target in August. In September, real estate transfer tax collections were 8.7 percent less than anticipated through September. By mid-October, real estate transfer taxes for the fiscal year were only one-third of projections.

Needing to shed $108 million in expenses to balance the current budget year alone, Nutter said: "Make no mistake. This will be a mid-year revision of incredible proportions, and because this recession will probably linger beyond next year, we can't look for brief, one-time changes. We need real change, and we need it now."

Among those to face the impact are the city's 20,000 or so union workers. The $400 million that the administration had earmarked for future wage and benefit hikes has been halved.

The city's 2,000 civil-service exempt employees also are not spared from the budget knife. Anyone earning at least $50,000 will be required to take an unpaid five-day furlough both this year and next, including agency heads and senior administration aides.

Grim-faced city officials absorbed the news soberly.

"I'm going to try and work with this administration - I want to see more efficiencies before we make cuts," Councilman Frank Rizzo said.

Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell, a champion of preserving services for her West Philadelphia district, much of which is poor, was daunted by the cuts but sympathetic to the mayor's plight.

"It's big and it's tough and it's everywhere," Blackwell said of the cutbacks. She was uncritical of Nutter, saying, "The mayor has a tough job."

Christie Balka, director of child care and budget policy for Public Citizens for Children and Youth, said it was "responsible" for Nutter to balance cuts with attempts to increase revenue.

Still, she was concerned about the effect cuts in temporary staffing and closing of swimming pools would have on children next summer. She also noted that many parents use computers at public libraries to look for jobs.

Herman "Pete" Matthews, president of District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents more than 9,400 blue-collar workers, said in a statement that reducing "much needed, basic city services is only a short-term solution" and that Nutter should work with the union to find long-term fixes.

Last night, the push-back against the cuts began when a throng of firefighters, area residents, medics, and officials of the Philadelphia Fire Fighters' Union rallied in the 2600 block of Aramingo Avenue, outside Engine 6, one of five engines and two ladders that would be put out of service under the mayor's budget-cutting plan.

State Rep. John J. Taylor (R., Phila.), whose district includes Engine 6, said he would formally ask Nutter to reconsider. "Everybody here can understand the budget crisis, but we can't compromise on safety," Taylor said.

Tim Dougherty, a neighbor of Engine 6 for 25 years, said: "It's an issue of quality of life. It's an issue of feeling safe and secure."

Nutter's own initiatives were not spared from the chopping block.

For instance, he had promised a $4 million boost in funding for Community College of Philadelphia. That figure has been cut in half. About $10 million in parking-tax revenues was to be set aside for street paving. It will now be redirected. Fairmount Park won't get its promised $3.1 million boost until possibly 2011.

Equally as notable is the suspension of the business-tax cuts Nutter promised when he campaigned for mayor last year. They are to be frozen in June until at least 2015, saving $230 million.

"We may not be able to do things on the timetable we laid out. . . . Some will have to take a backseat," Nutter said.

Business leaders seemed prepared for the news.

"While we - like the mayor - continue to believe in the importance of further tax cuts, the business community supports the mayor's overall plan," said Mark Schweiker, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

That understanding was not shared by tax-reform proponent Brett Mandel, of Philadelphia Forward: "Maintaining an uncomplicated tax structure will do nothing to help with the crucial task of growing jobs in Philadelphia in these trying times."

Mandel, however, said he would be willing to serve on the mayor's private-sector task force.

Not all city agencies are affected equally by the staffing and program reductions. While the prison system will lose no funding, among the hardest hit are the Free Library (which will see its budget shrink by 20 percent in the next two years), the Office of Housing and Community Development (40 percent), and the Streets Department (28 percent).

Some of the cuts will be permanent, such as the closing of 11 libraries. Others, however, may be reversed with an economic recovery. "We always look to a brighter future," Nutter said, "but we have to deal with the day that's in front of us."

Inquirer staff writer Bonnie Cook contributed to this article.