"In all candor, I believe this happened because of a poor roll- out," Palmer said of the way the news of branch closings was disseminated to the public. The decision was made by the library board Wednesday.

At a press conference yesterday at City Hall, Palmer also talked about the city's budget crisis and said he would be submitting layoff notifications of city workers to the state Department of Personnel within the next month or so.

Palmer said this year is the worst budget situation he has seen in 18 years as mayor.

"There would be no Houdini- like escapes this time," Palmer said.

Even if the city receives a $20 million cash infusion if the state Board of Public Utilities approves the sale of the city's outlying water utility system, the city will still make layoffs and raise taxes, the mayor said.

Palmer said he ordered city staff members to determine which services are needed and how they can be provided most efficiently.

"In all candor, I believe this happened because of a poor roll- out," Palmer said of the way the news of branch closings was disseminated to the public. The decision was made by the library board Wednesday.

At a press conference yesterday at City Hall, Palmer also talked about the city's budget crisis and said he would be submitting layoff notifications of city workers to the state Department of Personnel within the next month or so.

Palmer said this year is the worst budget situation he has seen in 18 years as mayor.

"There would be no Houdini- like escapes this time," Palmer said.

Even if the city receives a $20 million cash infusion if the state Board of Public Utilities approves the sale of the city's outlying water utility system, the city will still make layoffs and raise taxes, the mayor said.

Palmer said he ordered city staff members to determine which services are needed and how they can be provided most efficiently.

He said that city council members have said they would like to keep the branches open by putting deeper cuts elsewhere on the table.

"What I know, and soon what everyone will know, is that someplace else is already on the table," he said.

He said the impact of the branch closings could be offset by improvements at the main library.

Palmer also said he isn't necessarily opposed to combining the city library with the Mercer County library system, but said that would ensure the branches are closed and would require an additional library tax.

He said a city of Trenton's size doesn't require five branches and that the neighborhood libraries don't serve city children as well as they should. Even if money was found to keep the branches open this year, Palmer questioned whether the funding would be sustainable.

"I'd rather have one great library than five, and four that you can't even maintain," Palmer said, adding that "at the end of the day, the taxpayers are the ones that are already overburdened."

Palmer said he plans to meet with library director Kimberly M. Bray and library board members to discuss his plans. He hasn't met with Bray since she came to the library, he said, although members of his administration have met with her.

More news about the city budget will be available soon, with Palmer saying it would be an open budget process.

"This is a bad budget and it's not just going to be this year -- it's going to be years to come," he said.

Local 2286 president Dave Tal lone said it still isn't clear how many unionized library employees will be laid off.

"We're going to be out there, trying to help them find jobs," he said.

Of the upcoming city layoffs, Tallone said: "It's just very shock ing to me," adding that the state isn't providing the city with its "fair share" of aid.

Contact Andrew Kitchenman at akitchenman@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5706.