FOXBORO - A battle for Patriot Place mitigation bucks may be looming as the town's fire and police chiefs seek money for new hires while the town manager is talking about layoffs next year in a bloodied economy.

Town Manager Andrew Gala told selectmen this week he will oppose most of the spending requests Fire Chief Gerald McNamara and Police Chief Edward O'Leary submitted in articles for the Dec. 15 special town meeting.

The fire department's mid-year spending request, which includes hiring four more firefighter-paramedics and buying a fire truck, totals almost $500,000.

"We're looking at layoffs next year," Gala said after the meeting Tuesday. "If we get cuts in state aid, we're in big trouble."

Gala said the state's highly publicized fiscal woes, which will likely be passed on to the town's and cities, should provide a reality check for department heads. All of McNamara's warrant articles and two of O'Leary's indicate that the funding should come from the town's Patriot Place mitigation deal.

However, Finance Director Randy Scollins said the $2.8 million which the Kraft Group agreed to pay the town over 12 years in exchange for its support for 12 new liquor licenses was never earmarked for items on the town's needs list.

"There was absolutely no certainty the items on the list would be ultimately funded," Scollins said.

McNamara wants to ask town meeting in December to approve $211,106 to hire four additional firefighter-paramedics, $250,000 to buy a fire truck and $22,100 to buy an electronic traffic control system to help emergency responses.

O'Leary submitted three articles of his own, requesting $80,000 for police overtime to add police patrols on Route 1 during prime shopping and entertainment hours.

The police chief also is asking for $43,000 to hire two student officers to replace officers who have filed for retirement. A $13,050 request would be for background checks and other administrative requirements for future hiring of six permanent intermittent officers.

The intermittent officers would not be salaried, but could serve as per diem reserve officers, and would be eligible to be hired as regular officers when budgets allow, O'Leary said.

He said he is laying the groundwork for future hires.

Selectmen have yet to take a position on the six public safety articles.

Scollins said one of the requests, for an Opticom system to switch traffic lights to red as police, fire and ambulances approach the intersection, is partly funded through the Kraft group's commitment for an automatic gate opener at Gillette Stadium that is also part of that technology. He said he could support that expenditure, but not new hires or major equipment purchases.