The realities of Sacramento's budget troubles are about to greet Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Johnson and the City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to re-establish a citywide buyout program, a move aimed at easing the pain of a budget gap projected to hit between $45 million and $50 million next year.

While the voluntary separation program would need the approval of the city's unions in order to affect represented employees, high-ranking city officials said there is reason to believe the unions will agree to the move. Employees with at least five years of service would be eligible, with a maximum payout of $50,000.

If approved, the program will start being offered Wednesday.

"We are trying to act responsibly toward the budget, and this helps us out with the overall budget picture," said City Manager Ray Kerridge.

Johnson said he was supportive of "anything we can do to save the city money."

"I want to see us be very proactive," the mayor said. "It's not going to take one step or measure, it's going to take a series of things."

The mayor said cutbacks would not hamper many of things he has set out to do.

"We were very cognizant of the challenges that lie ahead," he said. "It's going to require us being smarter and more efficient and the community to step up to the plate and do what they can."

The council will vote on whether to apply the buyout program to non-union employees and also offer it to represented employees. Assistant City Manager Gus Vina said "every signal we're getting from the unions is that they're in favor of offering this to their employees."

The city's 2008-09 budget supported 5,300 full-time employees, 4,600 of whom are in bargaining units.

Police union boss Brent Meyer said his organization supports the program. He said as many as a dozen officers have expressed interest in taking buyouts.

"We certainly don't want to keep somebody from leaving who has different interests right now," Meyer said. "We're sorry to see that experience go, but you have to look at the big picture and what things are like in the city right now."

The city offered a nearly identical program in March, when the council appropriated money from its reserve to pay for the buyouts. This time around, the money would come from the budgets of the individual departments whose employees take the separation package.

Employees who are accepted for the buyouts will receive one week of pay for every year they have worked at the city.

The city has not set a goal for how many buyouts they'd like to issue. But officials said they believe there will be some interest, especially after several employees – including seven police officers and seven civilian employees of the Police Department – accepted the earlier buyout program before backing out.

This round of buyouts will be offered on an continuing basis until the city's budget situation eases, officials said.

Labor costs account for roughly 70 percent of the city budget and have already been the target of cutbacks.

About 700 non-represented employees with the city will begin taking one unpaid day off per month starting in January, a move that will save the city more than $2 million over a six-month period and slash about 5 percent from the paychecks of those employees.

When the city last offered buyouts in March, 109 employees accepted in the following months. Those buyouts cost the city $4 million up front, but will slash $10.5 million from the budget in future fiscal years, Vina said.

Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.