Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said Monday she is considering all options — including raising property taxes — to make up for a revenue shortfall expected to reach nearly $120 million next fiscal year.

"Everything is on the table on the expenditure and revenue side," Franklin said.

The mayor noted that in 2002, when she came into office with an $82 million deficit, she raised property taxes by 51 percent to cover half of the debt. She made up the rest by cutting jobs, giving no raises and leaving some vacant positions unfilled.

"That's not totally different than what we're looking at now," Franklin said.

Franklin's comments came in response to a resident's question about whether she will continue to reduce Atlanta's property tax rate.

Since 2002, Atlanta has rolled back its property tax rate by 22 percent to compensate for increases in property values.

Last year, Atlanta collected about $128 million in property taxes, slightly more than the $125 million the city collected in 2003.

The rollbacks received little publicity in recent years as Atlanta's finances were in the black but are now garnering more attention as the city grapples with a budget crisis.

Councilman Howard Shook, chairman of the council's finance/executive committee, said any increases to the city's property tax rate would not sit well with many residents in his district, which includes Buckhead.

"My taxpayers don't want to pay [higher taxes] for the people who made these mistakes [that put the city in a projected budget deficit]," he said in a telephone interview Monday. "They're going to want to see cuts."

Shook added, "Failure to roll back is a back door increase."

The mayor's comments came during a 90-minute session with about 30 community leaders at City Hall to discuss the city's finances. Atlanta has two problems:

• The city is facing a projected deficit of about $65 million in the budget cycle that ends June 30. City officials blame the deficit on rising pension, health care and fuel costs, along with some budgeting errors.

• The city's budget for next year. Franklin and her staff project the city will collect about $611 million when the current budget cycle ends June 30. For the budget cycle from July 1 to June 30, 2009, city officials project Atlanta will bring in $492 million. That creates a $119 million gap.

City officials say they have few options to collect money. Atlanta's primary revenue sources are property taxes, sales taxes and licensing and permitting fees.

Atlanta officials say the next budget likely will include some major service cutbacks. The city plans to maintain current service levels for police, fire and other public safety departments, but all other departments have been asked to submit a budget with 25 percent cuts.

Georgia State University political science professor Katherine Willoughby suggested the city study whether it could save money by privatizing some services.

"It's something that could at least be on the table," said Willoughby, a public administration and urban studies professor.