L.A. County Calling for More Cuts

For the third year in a row, Los Angeles County must cut law enforcement and other services to balance its budget amid rising employee costs, according to a spending plan unveiled Monday.

The Sheriff’s Department, which has already closed jails and released inmates early to save money, faces a $36.8-million reduction. Mental health programs for people without health insurance would lose $47.8 million, and the public library system could be forced to close 16 libraries to accommodate an $8.8-million cutback.

The $17.1-billion proposal is a whisker bigger than the current budget, but it represents a cut to existing programs. Costs such as workers’ compensation, health insurance for retired employees and unemployment insurance have increased so dramatically that the county must now trim its budget in other places to make ends meet.

All told, the county must squeeze $269 million from its operations in the 2004-05 budget year, which begins in July. The Board of Supervisors will review the spending plan and adopt a final version in June.

But the fiscal outlook could darken considerably later this year, when state lawmakers approve a California budget expected to wring money out of counties and cities statewide. Los Angeles County, home to nearly a third of the state’s residents, could suffer up to $470 million in cuts.

Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen, the county’s top budget manager, summed up the past few years as “one horrible year, another bad year and another bad year.” There has been so much financial turbulence -- from a ferocious debate over the state’s car tax to the governor’s recall and the recent passage of a $15-billion bond measure -- that budget analysts, and even some department heads, now exude a sort of war-weary calm.

Sheriff Lee Baca said Monday that his department had been forced to absorb so many costs since 2002 that he was running out of services to slash. “We’re already at the point with the jails where there’s no more left to cut,” said Baca, who estimated that the latest reductions could mean the loss of 400 deputy positions.

County agencies are increasingly turning to voters to find new sources of cash. Baca is pinning his hopes on a half-cent sales tax, a countywide measure he hopes to get onto the November ballot, to fund public safety. The Department of Mental Health, meanwhile, is backing a statewide ballot initiative that would tax the income of high earners. And just last month, 12 cities throughout the county asked residents to approve a property tax hike to support county libraries -- but voters rejected all 12 proposals.

“This is not the way to run government, by putting everything on the ballot to make sure we have money,” said Dr. Marvin Southard, the mental health director. “But on the other hand, what choice do we have?”

In some respects, the latest budget plan is faintly rosier than the one Janssen presented last year. The budget calls for only a handful of layoffs, and for the first time in 16 months, many of the county’s 92,300 employees will get a raise. It’s a 2.5% pay increase for most workers, although it can be rescinded if the county declares a financial emergency.

The Department of Child Support Services expects to lose about 40 workers, including attorneys and caseworkers who pursue parents who owe child support. Four people could be laid off in the public defender’s office.

However, some departments would expand. The Department of Health Services, which runs the county hospitals, would add 339 positions at a cost of $14.1 million to expand emergency services, improve computer systems and better monitor contracts. The Fire Depart- ment would gain 69 employees and $8.5 million to provide protection to Signal Hill and La Habra and increase service in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

“We’re trying to be conservative and reasonable with taxpayer dollars,” Janssen said, but he expressed frustration that his budget calculations could be upended by the state’s budget plan.

Particularly galling to local governments is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to shift about $1.3 billion in property tax revenue away from counties and cities and toward schools. Most of the money at issue -- about 70% -- goes to counties.

Local governments have long considered the property tax a local revenue source, and any attempt to reallocate it is viewed as an unjust money grab, although it is legal. If the governor’s budget is approved, Janssen predicted, about 3,000 county employees could be laid off.

For now, many departments are scrambling to limit staffing and services to meet the county’s proposed budget. The Department of Mental Health, for example, would be forced to restrict psychotherapy, medication and other services to the uninsured.

“It could be very severe,” Southard said. He estimated that the county would have to stop treating about 10,000 patients receiving care through the county’s mental health clinics. In the future, people with less serious problems, such as mild depression or anxiety, would probably be turned away.

The Sheriff’s Department also will need to curtail services, although Baca was reluctant Monday to discuss where the ax might fall. Janssen suggested that the county might generate cash by renegotiating the sheriff’s contracts with 40 cities.

The cities pay a combined $174 million to have the Sheriff’s Department police them, but they are not charged for a wide range of services, including specialized detective work, training, scientific services and other costs.

The Board of Supervisors has some discretion over which services are billed to cities, and two supervisors are pushing for a change. “Contract cities is something that everybody is taking a look at,” Janssen said. “There may be more money there.”

Baca said he did not believe that the county was subsidizing contract cities, which include Santa Clarita, West Hollywood and Compton. “The implication that cities are getting a free ride has not been validated,” he said.

For the county’s 84 libraries, the budget blueprint came with a sense of deja vu. This is the third April that Janssen has proposed a multimillion-dollar hit for the libraries -- but in the last two years, the money was restored at the last minute by the Board of Supervisors.

“Our customers just get so upset over the loss of service that they call the supervisors,” said Nancy Mahr, a library spokeswoman.

Other departments are being asked to eliminate positions, which means they cannot replace people who quit or retire. The Department of Children and Family Services would erase 455 vacant administrative positions, but services for children would not be affected, Director David Sanders said.

The Department of Parks and Recreation would lose 24 positions, leading to some staffing cutbacks at parks on Sundays and the closure of two swimming pools during the winter. The district attorney’s office would eliminate 23 deputy positions, probably in special prosecution units. In a prepared statement, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said he was strongly opposed to any cuts.

Janssen took a philosophical approach to such objections.

“The only way you know if it’s good is if everybody is unhappy,” he said. “Isn’t that an interesting way to run government?”