Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Atlanta Councilwoman Mary Norwood and state Senator Kasim Reed were headed for a Dec. 1 runoff after neither received more than half the votes cast for six candidates vying for mayor of Georgia’s largest city.

Norwood collected 46 percent of the votes with 69 percent of precincts reporting and Reed had 37 percent, according to the Associated Press’s election Web site. Lisa Borders, president of the city council, was third with 14 percent.

Both leaders said they want to restore Atlanta’s police and fire departments, where the previous mayor, Shirley Franklin, eliminated jobs to close a $140 million deficit projected for fiscal 2010. Norwood and Reed also said they want to avoid new taxes after Franklin boosted property rates to add $55 million in the $541 million budget for the year that began July 1.

Norwood, citing a 13 percent rise in burglaries last year and the closing of fire stations, said she would make job cuts in other departments to expand emergency services.

She proposes tighter accounting to make money available for public safety, citing a report by the Atlanta Journal Constitution that the city paid a $1.6 million fine for mishandling pension funds.

“How can we expect to have money to pay our public safety personnel reliably when we waste a million dollars here and a million dollars there?” Norwood said on her Web site.

Reed would use money from this year’s property tax increase and from about $20 million a year in fines and fees he says the city isn’t collecting to pay for more police. He said he wants to hire 750 officers at what city officials said would cost at least $64 million, the Journal Constitution reported.

Adding Police

Adding police “will cut down on the need for overtime and patrols that are simply stretched too thin right now,” Reed said on his Web site.

Atlanta’s general-obligation bond rating was cut two levels to A from AA- by Standard & Poor’s in March, as the city’s 2009 budget shortfall grew to as much as $80 million from a projected $50 million to $60 million.

“Although the Atlanta area had experienced economic growth over the previous four years, management was not able to reign in its expenditures and adjust revenues to achieve balanced operations,” said S&P, whose A rating is its sixth-highest.

Other candidates in the mayoral election were Jesse Spikes, a lawyer, who received 2.4 percent of the vote; Kyle Keyser, a community activist, with 0.8 percent, and Peter Brownelowe, a former policeman, who got 0.2 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jerry Hart in Miami at jhart@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 3, 2009 23:12 EST