Toronto's city manager recommended a series of measures to cut costs at City Hall on Monday, including selling the city's zoos and performing arts centres, reviewing library services and cutting daycare space.

Joe Pennachetti made his recommendations at a budget committee briefing Monday morning.

Pennachetti said the city should offload several community zoos, including Riverdale Farm, and three performing arts centres, as well as further reviewing library services and eliminating city-funded daycare spaces.

The city would save $100 million in 2012 alone if city council approves his recommendations, Pennachetti said.

"That would contribute to assisting and balancing the budget for 2012," he told reporters at the Scarborough Civic Centre Monday morning.

Mayor Rob Ford has said the city needs to find $774 million in savings to balance its budget next year.

The recommendations come after a massive core service review conducted on behalf of the city recommended sweeping cuts to everything from the arts and transit to emergency responders.

Pennachetti's recommendations included eliminating or offloading 69 services as well as 119 other cost-saving measures.

"I know full well that this is a most difficult time for the residents of Toronto as well as our Toronto Public Service," Pennachetti said. "I'm fully aware of the difficult decisions we must make in the coming months."

The recommendations included unloading ownership of the Toronto Zoo, Riverdale Farm and smaller zoos located in High Park and on Centre Island

Glenn de Baeremaeker, a city councillor, told CTV Toronto on Monday that the mayor promised he wouldn't make cuts.

"Mayor Ford said to us, ‘I know where the money is, there are no cuts,'" he said.

Pennachetti also suggested selling the Sony Centre, St. Lawrence Centre and the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts.

Among the other recommendations:

• order libraries to adjust hours of operation and study further service cuts

• ask the TTC to reconsider recent service improvements

• eliminate the four free garbage tags provided to each Toronto home

• eliminate some snow clearing services

• eliminate 2,000 subsidized childcare spaces through attrition

• cut back on grass cutting by city crews

• scrap street sweeping

• implement a hiring freeze for the police force

Pennachetti said his recommendations were not enough to meet budget cut targets set for 2012 and that every department is still expected to cut spending by 10 per cent budget.

The city's Voluntary Separation Program, which offers city workers a buyout, has had more than 1,100 city workers apply since the program was announced this summer, Pennachetti told CTV Toronto on Sunday.

He also said he would likely approve 70 per cent of those applications.

The buyouts will cost the city abut $40 million, but save it $59 million.

With files from CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson