SEATTLE -- Some King County employees are learning Tuesday that they are being laid off after King County Executive Ron Sims announced 400 county job cuts. The job cuts come as King County has a budget deficit of $93 million.

The county is eliminating 253 positions as of December 31. They will result in 126 actual layoffs because the rest of those positions are currently unfilled.

The county also notified 111 other people Tuesday that they're in "lifeboat" positions. Their jobs are safe for now, but funding is only secured through June 30th. The county will looks for new revenue to keep the jobs funded.

A significant chunk of layoffs affect the Public Health office.

The Washington State Nurses Association said its hearing more than 40 nurses are subject to this layoff. The union said those layoffs bite deeply into public health clinics and many other public health functions.

"In terms of the nurses, it's the clinics, it's the jails, it’s the outreach programs that we do. It's the education things that we do, it's the monitoring things that we do, so it's a whole lot of things that are in danger with this," said Barbara Frye of the Washington State Nurses Association.

Sims blamed King County's budget gap on the slowing national economy, saying the county is taking in less from real estate sales and sales tax.

VIDEO: County Job Cuts Blamed On Slowing National Economy

Sims said he'll spend much of the county's reserves to prevent further cuts in law enforcement and courts until the end of next June.

Sims plans to balance the budget by requiring that county unions accept $10 million less in cost of living increases than their current contracts require.

“I think the issue is, are we going to be able to secure our 10 million and the answer is quite confident,” Sims said.

County Council Budget Chairman Larry Phillips is not confident the budget is balanced.

“It becomes a budget of one-time release capsules of uncertain outcomes and prolonged agony,” Phillips said.

In all, there are 13,000 King County employees.