Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that absent a last-minute deal with his fellow Democrats who run the New Jersey Legislature, he will be forced to cut $855 million in spending from the state budget lawmakers passed last week.

"That's unfortunately the option that we'd be left with," Murphy said at a news conference at his office in Trenton.

The Legislature passed a budget on Thursday that, in defiance of Murphy, does not include his plans to raise taxes on personal income over $1 million or boost the state sales taxes from 6.625 percent back to 7 percent.

Murphy would not say what he might cut, but the legislative budget included more than $300 million in additional funding for public schools, property tax relief and Democratic wish list items that could be targeted.

That $36.5 billion spending blueprint, which Murphy can sign, veto or line-item veto, would put the state at risk of running a deficit and without "sustainable" revenues it need needs to put more money into schools, transit and government worker pensions, Murphy said.

The governor has lobbed this criticism at lawmakers -- that their budget is built on "phantom" revenues -- for a week, prompting legislative leadership to justify their plans to replace Murphy's call for $1.3 billion in higher sales and income taxes with $805 million from a business tax hike and hundreds of millions of dollars more from health care savings, contract audits and tax amnesty collections.

At a separate news conference at the Statehouse in Trenton on Monday, state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Camden, did just that, saying their revenue estimates had a seal of approval from the distinguished budget experts at the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.

But OLS has not issued any formal opinion on the $200 million in additional Corporation Business Tax revenue the Legislature thinks will flow from tax reform at the federal level, the $150 million expected from a tax amnesty or the $250 million the Legislature wants in employee health care savings.

Unlike former Gov. Chris Christie, who famously ripped into OLS when there was a disagreement among revenue estimators, Murphy didn't ratchet up a battle of the bean counters.

"There's going to be no bashing of OLS. It's not a 'he said, she said,' thing," Murphy said.

Instead, he reiterated that as governor he has the sole authority to certify revenues.

"There's one person singularly that has to be comfortable with the revenues and expenses and certify them. And that's me," Murphy continued. "The buck stops with me, in terms of putting my signature to this budget."

That power is incentive for both sides, who want more money for schools and other progressive causes, to strike a deal before the midnight Saturday deadline.

Murphy met again with legislative leadership for about an hour this afternoon at the West State Street executive, which they left without reaching an agreement.

"(Murphy) threw around some numbers today, and we're looking at his numbers," state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, told reporters at the Statehouse later. "We don't feel we're that far away."

So far they've struggled to find the middle ground between Murphy's proposed tax hikes and the Legislature's own plan for a two-year increase in taxes on New Jersey's largest businesses.

Sweeney says the federal business tax cut left New Jersey corporations awash in cash and the state should take a cut.

At their news conference Monday, the Assembly leaders said their budget is "responsible and balanced."

"The bottom line is this: The Legislature has fulfilled its constitutional obligation and duty to send a balanced budget to the governor for his signature," Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said. "It's never been our job to accept the budget that the governor has presented to us and to accept it without change or modification."

Murphy stressed that he's concerned that Sweeney's proposed 13 percent top tax rate will make New Jersey's business taxes the highest in the country and discourage new businesses and business expansion.

Additionally, he has said wants "long-term" budget solutions, where the Legislature's Corporation Business Tax hike expires in two years.

"You're entering first grade. The good news is we've got this covered this year and maybe next. Bad news is I'm not sure we're going to have money for third grade," Murphy said. "I would never do that deal. That's irresponsible on my part."

Sweeney took a new public position in a TV interview Sunday, saying that he might be willing to extend the Corporation Business Tax increase beyond the initial two years. He repeated that stance Monday.

Murphy and lawmakers must enact a budget by Saturday. Otherwise, New Jersey could see its second state government shutdown in two years.

Sweeney said he's not worried.

"It's Monday," he said. "We have all week."

NJ Advance Media staff writers Matt Arco and Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.