Victoria police say council's decision to slash a requested budget increase in 2019 could have a negative impact on public safety.

Police had asked council for a desperately needed boost to its budget in a Committee of the Whole meeting Thursday, but council said they amount they were looking for was too much.

VicPD requested a $2.6-million increase, in part to hire six new front line officers and a new civilian staffer.

But the request was turned down in a 5-3 vote with only Mayor Lisa Helps, Coun. Geoff Young and Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe voting to approve it.

Instead, police were only granted a $1.6-million increase and will potentially be losing positions as a result, according to Chief Const. Del Manak.

"I can't even deliver existing services in a time where there's more demands on police," said Manak. "Our community is growing, they're growing tremendously, and we need to make sure that our police force and our ability to provide and keep our residents safe is growing with that need and that demand."

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said she didn't support council's decision to cut the core police budget, because the community is rapidly growing, tourism is increasing and there are a growing number of festivals taking place in B.C.'s capital.

"It's very difficult when council makes a decision that I don't support, and my job as the mayor is to represent council's decision," she said. "But I think that we need to have adequate and effective policing in our community."

The vote has effectively sent Victoria police back to the drawing board.

Manak must now decide how we must tweak his budget to account for a shortfall of well over a million dollars before council votes to pass its final budget in April, which will set those numbers in stone.

Coun. Laurel Collins, one of the five to vote for a reduced budget increase, said the department is still receiving a substantial budget increase.

"It is the most, in terms of the dollar amount, that any city department will get in terms of an increase, and also this is in the context of decreasing crime rates," Collins told CTV News.

While police are now warning the public their safety could be in jeopardy, one former B.C. police chief says he doesn't agree with VicPD's approach.

"It should be unsettling to the residents in Victoria, the people who have businesses, the people who visit Victoria because in fact, the sky's not going to fall," said Kash Heed.

Manak said he's "absolutely not" playing politics, and that the pressure of the opioid crisis, terrorism and cyber crimes mean without money, his officers could be overworked and outgunned.

Victoria has been embroiled in tough budget talks with municipal governments in Victoria and Esquimalt for years.

A Victoria police report shows no new permanent officers have been hired in eight years.