Austin taxpayers are weighing in on how they think the City of Austin should handle budget cuts.

The city held a public hearing Tuesday night. Everything from police overtime to library hours are on the potential list of budget cuts.

''I've been applying to the police department here and supposed to be in the academy that's supposed to start at the end of the year, so really my purpose is to try to make sure that stays together so that I have a job at the end of the year," Austinite Bryan Patten said.

Even if citizens won’t make the final decision, most had an opinion on what should or should not be cut.

''Our park system continues to be the target of cuts, when in fact we've got more and more people using our parks and our trail systems on a daily basis,'' Bill Fraser said.

This year, the city has also made participation in the process available online. People can vote for cuts or even add their own suggestions.

The city said participation has been promising.

"That's something we want to accomplish in the process, is to get as many ideas on the table as possible, and if there's something out there that can be implemented at little or no impact to the community, that's something we want to explore,” City of Austin budget officer Ed Van Eenoo said.

So far, the top pick is eliminating free co-sponsorships of community special events by the Parks and Recreation Department. Some are also willing to see the lights go out on the Trail of Lights.

Other items getting strong votes for cuts weren’t even submitted by the city. One citizen-submitted suggestion ranked near the top of the list is cutting all city salaries above $100,000 by 20 percent.

Even if it's not likely, some say it speaks to what residents are feeling.

''First of all it tells you that that's an idea that the city didn't think of by themselves, and maybe they should have. Second of all, it's clearly something that's on people's minds, because with the economy the way it is people losing jobs, it's just one way that people could make sacrifices,'' Stefan Wray, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said.

Back in April, the city estimated an $11-million to $28-million projected shortfall. While that estimate hasn't been revised since April, things have started looking a little better.

At that time, the city was coming off of 16 straight months of a sales tax decline. The city has since seen five positive months in a row.

More public hearings are scheduled for Aug. 5, 19 and 26. The budget is schedule to be adopted in mid-September.

For more information about the city budget process, visit CityOfAustin.org.