New London - Five members of the city's building department were given layoff notices Friday as city officials continue to hash out a divisive budget.

Zak Leavy, the mayor's assistant, said that as the budget stands now, the five positions would be eliminated July 1.

The notices are the latest to be issued to city employees. A total of 35 police and fire department employees have also been given notice. Leavy said that aside from those public safety positions, a total of 16 other employees, including the five issued layoff notices Friday, will either retire or be laid off in the coming fiscal year.

The news comes after the City Council on Tuesday approved for the third time an $83 million budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year. The vote came after the council moved money around to save all police and fire department jobs but in the process also eliminated the positions of deputy police chief, director of the office of development and planning, an office administrator, the assistant city clerk and the director of risk management.

The council's Finance Committee spent weeks going through the budget line by line and cut Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio's request by about $4 million. Finizio said his proposal of $87 million, which would have required a 20 percent hike in taxes, would have preserved all jobs in the city.