It’s That Time Again: County Singing Blues Over Budget

In an annual rite of summer, county officials are warning that the proposed county budget must be the leanest ever.

Last year, projected shortfalls and layoffs were avoided by one-time sales of surplus county property and similar actions. But this year’s budget forecast, unlike the last, is clouded by a projected 4% drop in county revenues.

The current budget is $1.7 billion.

Details of the proposed 1988-89 budget will not be released until later this week. But the county administrative office recently asked county departments to prepare spending plans that would restrict service to current levels for another year--and then cut those sums by 10%.

In the district attorney’s office, officials said such cutbacks would mean closing all of the special prosecution units that target problems such as gangs and child abuse.

‘Goes Against Code’

Bill Morison, administrative manager for the district attorney, said the cuts would also require that misdemeanor prosecutors be laid off, even though the county is required by law to prosecute misdemeanors.

“It goes against the government code, which says that the district attorney is supposed to staff the courts,” Morison said. “We would not be able to do that if we reduce by 10%.”

Larry Leaman, director of the Social Services Agency, said a 10% budget cut would show up in a reduction of services and the loss of about 180 employees.

As dire as the budget outlook seems, past experience changes the perspective somewhat. County officials at this time last year were predicting the release of up to 400 employees, but when the final budget was adopted in August, no workers were cut.

That’s why, Leaman said, “I’m not panicking, yet. On a scale of one to 10, 10 being disaster, I’d say we’re about a seven.”

The annual budget crisis stems in part from a legal requirement that the county prepare a balanced budget before county officials know how much money the state will provide. And until the books are closed on the current fiscal year ending June 30, county officials won’t know how much money will be left over from this year’s budget.

Officials say, however, that this budget season could be much worse than the last.

Last year, as the final county budget was approved, shortfalls were eliminated at the last minute with several sales of excess county property and the transfer of about $15 million from a lucrative county landfill management account.

Such actions generated an extra $25 million that is not available this year.

Also, the auditor-controller has projected that revenue next year will be about 4% lower than it was this year. In the two previous years, revenue had risen 12% and 9%, respectively.

Part of the drop in revenue projected for next year is due to the incorporation of Mission Viejo in March, which shifted about $5 million in property taxes from the county to the new city.

County officials are hoping to balance most of the losses by opting into a proposed state program under which the state would pay for the operation of the county courts. Under the plan, all of the revenue from fines and forfeitures ordered by the court would also be transferred from the county to the state.

But Orange County officials figure that if the county joined the program, it would gain between $15 million and $20 million in the first year. The proposed Trial Court Funding Act, however, may not be approved by the state Legislature this year.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to adopt a tentative budget later this month that will be effective July 1. During the last two weeks of July, when more information from the state is available, the board is scheduled to hold hearings on the budget and then adopt a final version of the county’s fiscal plan.

“It’s a little bit more difficult (than last year) and the uncertainties of state funding have really exacerbated the situation,” said John Sibley, program manager for the county administrative office. “We’re short by a fair amount.”

Sibley said of the requested cutbacks, “When you’re a labor-intensive organization and you cut that deeply, there is no way not to cut staff.”

Sibley would not discuss details of the budget before it is released, possibly on Thursday.

In the supervisors’ offices, however, aides said they have been told that the budget situation could require at least 400 layoffs.

Social Services director Leaman said he would know more in about two weeks about layoffs in his agency.

“We have a lot riding on the state budget, which seems to be unusually confusing this year,” he said. “So much hinges on Sacramento that . . . we view this 10% reduction as a point-in-time assessment.”

Morison of the district attorney staff said the cuts planned in his office would be so serious that they could cost the county money.

If the county could not provide prosecutors, the state attorney general would be forced to assume the job, and he would bill the county, Morison said. And, with less effective prosecution, the revenue from fines and forfeitures might be reduced.

“We’ve been through these crunches before and the board has historically made us whole again,” he said. “Hopefully, we can anticipate the same situation this year, but I know the problems are real.”