Tentative County Budget Unveiled : Officials Say Hundreds of Jobs May Be Cut Unless New Funds Are Found

Orange County officials unveiled a proposed, highly tentative $2.2-billion 1988-89 budget Thursday and warned that hundreds of jobs could be eliminated without new revenue.

The numbers are going to change so much in the next few weeks that the document released Thursday is merely a “place holder” to allow the county to operate through the first few weeks of the fiscal year that begins July 1, officials said.

Until the state Legislature determines its own budget--including the share of state money for counties--the number of layoffs or programs to be cut in Orange County will not be known, officials said.

The $2.2-billion proposal is $500 million higher than this year’s $1.7 billion budget, but most of the increase stems from projects such as a major road program and a massive airport expansion, which generate their own revenue through fees, bond sales and private contributions.

General Fund Increase

Under the proposed budget, the county’s general fund spending would rise by $49 million to $927 million. The increase is mostly attributable to wage increases negotiated with county employee unions last year.

John Sibley, program manager for the county administrative office, said the county is about $44 million short of being able to afford the proposed increase in the general fund.

County officials have said, however, that they are looking at more than 400 jobs that could be cut during the next fiscal year, some through attrition and others by layoffs.

County officials said they will present the Board of Supervisors with another budget late next month that will include specific cuts and numbers of layoffs involved for each department. The supervisors will then hold two weeks of hearings on the budget before they adopt a final version.

“We are going to present a responsible budget” in July, said Sibley. “The entire proposed budget is a place holder . . . designed to get us through the first two months of the fiscal year.

“I will remain very optimistic that there will be a minimum number of layoffs,” he said. “We are not singing the budget blues. We are attempting to manage a budget.”

Gap Was Closed Last Year

There was also a gap in the budget last year at this time. But at the last minute, county officials sold some excess property and transferred about $15 million from a lucrative landfill operations account.

This year, however, those one-time boosts are not available and so county officials are worried that the crunch could be more serious.

One hope is a bill in the Legislature that would allow the state to assume the cost of operating the courts. In turn, the county would transfer all of its revenue from fines and forfeitures to the state.

County officials figure that that could generate between $15 million and $20 million for next year’s budget. But the bill is still being debated in Sacramento.

Recently, all the county departments were asked to prepare budgets to maintain their current service levels, and then to cut those budgets by 10%. The proposed budget released Thursday does not reflect any of the 10% cuts. But Sibley said they will be used to prepare the budget for release next month.

Almost all of the major department heads outlined troublesome scenarios in the event they are forced to absorb 10% cuts.

Effect on Juvenile Facilities

In the Probation Department, Director Michael Schumacher said that about 100 jobs are at stake. He said the department might not be able to prepare the reports on criminal defendants that municipal judges use to decide a sentence.

He also said that about 90 of the 625 beds in the county’s juvenile correction facilities could be taken out of operation. The facility has been running at capacity.

In the Health Care Agency, Assistant Director Ron DiLuigi said there could be 82 layoffs. The cutbacks would mean that the department could not see as many mental health patients or provide night medical service to branch jails, he said.

DiLuigi said, however, that the Health Care Agency is looking into some outside revenue that might make the cuts less severe.

Earlier this week, the Social Services Agency predicted that about 180 of its jobs could be lost, bringing about a corresponding reduction in welfare programs.

And the district attorney’s office said it might have to close of all its specialized prosecution units that deal with such problems as gangs and child abuse.