D.A., Sheriff Guard Funds

Orange County sheriff and district attorney officials said Tuesday they would have to pull deputies off the streets and prosecutors out of the courtroom if voters approve a proposed November initiative requiring them to share sales tax revenue with firefighters.

The grim forecast presented to the Board of Supervisors further escalates a feud between county law enforcement and the Orange County Fire Authority about how the county should divide revenue from Proposition 172, a half-cent sales tax increase approved by state voters in 1993.

The Fire Authority has long complained that it has been excluded from the hundreds of millions of dollars the county receives each year under the proposition.

Since 1994, the Board of Supervisors has given 80% of the money to the Sheriff’s Department and 20% to the district attorney.

The Fire Authority is funded through property taxes and through fees from 22 cities that contract for its services.

Last week, the union that represents the authority’s 750 firefighters took the first steps toward putting an initiative on the November ballot that would require the county to share Proposition 172 money with the county Fire Authority.

The initiative would call for the Fire Authority to receive half of any increase in Proposition 172 revenue. The department could not ever receive more than 10% of the money under the proposed initiative. A county finance official said that within a few years, that 10% could amount to more than $30 million per year.

Assistant Sheriff Kim Markuson told the Board of Supervisors that Proposition 172 money now makes up about half of the sheriff’s budget and that sharing with firefighters would be devastating. He said the department might be forced to lay off deputies, which in turn could force the department to reduce patrols, release inmates early and slow the investigation of crimes.

Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said a reduction in Proposition 172 money would force him to lay off prosecutors.

“Our ability to prosecute cases would be compromised,” he said. “The people who are going to pay the price are going to be the victims of crime.”

If county officials become concerned about the firefighters’ initiative, they could put a competing initiative on the ballot that would allow only the sheriff and district attorney to share Proposition 172 money, said Supervisor Chris Norby. No one has formally launched such an initiative, however.

An official with the firefighters union said the group is pursuing the initiative because it believes voters in 1993 intended for some of the money to go to firefighters and the county has not been willing to share it with the department.

“The intent of the voters was this money should be used for increased public safety, and fire was one of those components,” said David J. Thompson, director of the firefighters union.

“This initiative asks for 50% of the growth going forward. The sheriff’s budget won’t be decreased one cent. The district attorney will not be decreased one cent.”

If the firefighters get the initiative on the ballot -- and it is approved by voters -- the department would use the money to increase staffing from three to four firefighters per truck and to repair and replace its aging fleet of trucks and helicopters, Thompson said.

No one from the Fire Authority or its union appeared at Tuesday’s meeting -- something several supervisors said they noticed.

“I’m personally disappointed the Orange County Fire Authority didn’t send anybody here. They must not be too proud of this,” said Supervisor Bill Campbell.

Wayne Quint, president of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, said he believes the firefighters’ initiative could cause long-lasting damage both to public safety in the county and to the relationship between the two traditional allies.

If supervisors put a competing initiative on the ballot, it could lead to the deputies’ union campaigning for one initiative and the firefighters for another.

“We’re going to do everything possible in our power and within our resources to make sure the citizens of Orange County are safe,” Quint said.

“If this fire initiative passes, their safety is going to be jeopardized.”