NIAGARA FALLS — The City Council targeted two top positions in Mayor Paul A. Dyster’s administration Thursday as it began a series of budget cuts that will play out during the next four weeks.

The Council voted unanimously to cut Economic Development Director Peter Kay’s job from the budget and to slash $40,000 from City Administrator Donna D. Owens’ $110,000 salary.

“What we’re pretty much saying is, ‘justify these positions,’ ” said Council Chairman Chris A. Robins.

The two high-level jobs were among 81 budget amendments passed by the Council on Thursday in its first round of cuts to Dyster’s $93 million budget proposed for 2010.

The bulk of the Council’s budget amendments sought to eliminate raises not required by union contracts and to remove increases for travel and training.

Council members also made a series of budget changes needed to put in place a proposal floated by Dyster earlier this month to reorganize the Department of Inspections to expand its manpower and hours.

But the budget amendments — which cut about $282,391 from the general fund — will not trim proposed property tax rates. Council members plan to sweep the money into a contingency fund they can control next year, Robins and Councilman Sam Fruscione said.

Dyster called the decision to cut his top economic development official and to drastically reduce the salary of the city administrator “very

troubling” and said he would likely veto those two changes.

“This is a political process, and there’s a case now that I need to make to the Council,” Dyster said. “Many of the actions that the Council took tonight are actions that I’m going to be able to accept, but I can’t accept the actions with regard to the city administrator and the director of economic development.”

Several Council members said they cut Kay’s $100,000 job and reduced Owens’ salary because they felt they had not yet seen results from the two Dyster appointees.

“We have layers upon layers upon layers here in City Hall,” Fruscione said. “We could add 88 more positions in economic development, and it all is going to make it more complex and more difficult to get anything done.”

Both positions were filled by Dyster through a national recruiting process last year. Council members at that time agreed to re-create the position of economic development director and to boost the salary for the city administrator, but they’ve since soured on Dyster’s picks for the jobs.

The two positions have the highest base salaries on the city payroll.

Dyster ticked off a list of recent accomplishments by his administration that he attributed to a team effort that involved Owens and Kay. Those have included, among other items, a recent agreement to overhaul the city’s anti-discrimination policies and ongoing efforts to locate Niagara County Community College’s Culinary Arts Institute in the Rainbow Centre mall.

He said it may be too early to fully judge the effectiveness of Kay’s position.

“There are many projects that he’s been working on, that his department has been working on, and that have not yet had the opportunity to bear fruit,” Dyster said. “If you plant a seed in the ground and then you dig it up two weeks later, you’re never going to get any fruit off of that plant.”

The budget process will continue to unfold during the next few weeks.

Dyster will need two Council members to change their votes to sustain a veto of any budget amendment. The budget must be finalized by Dec. 15.

The Council will meet again at 4 p. m. Tuesday in City Hall to consider more budget amendments.