Board considers 18% cut in budget for Orange County

Reeling from a plunge in sales and property tax revenue, Orange County officials Tuesday began the process of slashing as much as $1.2 billion from the county budget -- a potential loss of 798 jobs -- for the coming fiscal year.

In the face of sharp declines in state funds, increasing retirement costs and concern that the local economy has yet to hit bottom, county supervisors are trying to cobble together a $5.5-billion budget -- a decrease of about 18% from last year.

The budget deliberations come at a time when counties throughout Southern California are facing nearly identical fiscal challenges, said Thomas Mauk, Orange County’s chief executive officer.

The fiscal picture? In a word, “dismal,” Mauk told supervisors.

Department heads made presentations to supervisors about the effect the proposed cuts would have.

Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas showed supervisors a screen shot from “I Love Lucy” in which Lucy is befuddled by too many candies coming at her on a conveyor belt -- an example, he said, of the increased caseloads that might overwhelm the district attorney’s office.

Supervisors recommended reducing the district attorney’s budget by about $8 million, about $2 million less than recommended by Mauk.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens told board members that although Orange County enjoyed relatively low crime rates, cutting a proposed $28 million from the Sheriff’s Department would be tough on criminal investigators and cause problems for the jails. The 200 positions proposed for elimination would include criminal and special unit investigators as well as jail employees. The cuts could also force closure of the Women’s Central Jail, she said.

Hutchens said she was looking at creative funding, such as trying to obtain a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house federal immigration detainees in county jails.

Supervisors also decided to cut $6.5 million from the county probation office, which includes potentially closing down Los Pinos Conservation Camp, where juvenile inmates are housed. Earlier this year, the county reduced capacity at the camp to 64. The county is hoping to create a youth reporting center that allows offenders to return home at night and would monitor juvenile suspects using GPS technology. The county also hopes to establish an adult day center to help adult offenders released from jail adjust.

Community services, which had already been hit with cuts at the end of last year to deal with the worsening recession, would face additional cutbacks. Orange County’s Social Services Agency and its Health Care Agency, which provides a host of services, including flu shots for the elderly and healthcare for the poor, would each be cut by $1 million.

The final budget is expected to be adopted June 23.

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my-thuan.tran@latimes.com