BATON ROUGE - Early voting on the Thrive EBR plan started Nov. 1, and Wednesday night, Mayor-President Sid Edwards laid out what he says will happen if the three-part tax plan doesn't pass this fall.

Edwards did not mince words when he said the city-parish could slash its budget, getting rid of hundreds of jobs.

"Thrive doesn't pave the streets of Baton Rouge in gold, but it helps us keep our head above water," Mayor-President Edwards said Wednesday.

The proposed budget cuts more than 420 positions, spread across multiple departments, not including police and fire.

"What voters need to understand is that Sid is being very honest with them. The situation is what it is," Political analyst James Hartman said.

Taking a look at the proposed budget, these are some of the departments that could see cuts. Nine fewer people could work in the Parish Attorney's Office. Twenty-one people could lose their jobs in City Court, twenty-five fewer people in the Department of Development and the Department of Maintenance, could lose seventy-seven people. Keep in mind that some of these positions are currently vacant and won't be filled.

"This is, of course, if propositions one, two, and three do not pass," Chief Efficiency Officer Charlie Davis said.

Those three propositions make up the Thrive EBR plan.

"We're estimating just over 400 positions, and we're estimating just over 200 people could possibly lose their jobs if Thrive doesn't pass," Davis said.

Voting 'yes' for the three propositions of Thrive renews millages for the East Baton Rouge Library, Council on Aging, and Mosquito Abatement and Rodent Control and moves around dedicated funds to pay off debts, and diverts future money to the city-parish general fund.

For some voters, Wednesday night's presentation wasn't enough to sway them.

"I have seen the taxpayers' trust in our local government plummeting. We need to get back to transparency and building trust," East Baton Rouge resident Penny Landry said.