County Seeks to Cope With Governor’s Cut in Funds

Expecting to be spared from painful budget cuts this year, Los Angeles County officials said Friday that they now must grapple with reductions in health, mental health and welfare programs as a result of Gov. George Deukmejian’s vetoes of spending proposals in the state budget.

“I know the governor is concerned about a rainy day in Sacramento,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Ed Edelman, referring to the governor’s $1.1-billion reserve fund. “But it’s storming in Los Angeles County. We’ve got distress flags up in health and mental health.”

Richard B. Dixon, the county’s chief administrative officer, said he will submit a higher revised budget to the board before it begins deliberations July 19. The $9.2-billion budget was prepared before state officials announced the surplus and does not include additional money allocated to the county in the state budget, even with the governor’s cuts.

One county official expressed surprise at the vetoes.

“I was shocked,” said Francis Dowling, chief deputy director of the Department of Mental Health. “I thought we made our case. I thought everyone was convinced of the extreme need.”

County officials had been predicting a brighter fiscal picture after the state announced in May the surprise finding of a $2.5-billion surplus that could be used to help local governments and schools.

Among the hardest hit among county services was the Mental Health Department, which faces an $8-million cut in the wake of last year’s $12-million curtailment, Dowling said. The department has a $238-million annual budget.

Dowling said his department will be forced to close two more mental health clinics, in addition to the five already due to close Sept. 1 and three others closed in June because of a shortfall in last year’s budget.

The five county supervisors will decide on the cuts when they begin deliberations on a proposed $9.2-billion budget. Because supervisors have no authority to raise taxes, they generally must take funds from one program to save another.

Supervisor Deane Dana, however, has said that he will seek to use his share of $10 million in uncommitted funds in the budget--$2 million for each supervisor--to save mental health programs in his district.

Mental health clinics proposed for closure include the El Camino Mental Health Center in Santa Fe Springs and the Northeast Family Health Center in Highland Park. Community mental health organizations, such as the Kedren Community Center in South-Central Los Angeles, also face reductions in funding, Dowling said.

“We have been operating in crisis for a considerable period of time,” Dowling said. “This exacerbates that crisis. . . . It means that more people in crisis will have to be handled by already overcrowded emergency psychiatric units.”

Close Clinics

Earlier this year, Robert Gates, the county’s director of health services, proposed $55.7 million in health cuts, including closing dozens of clinics and reducing services at hospitals. He said Friday that until he completes his analysis of Deukmejian’s vetoes, “I cannot give any assurance that we will not be implementing some or all of those cuts.”

Eddy Tanaka, director of the county Department of Public Social Services, said he will be forced to close four welfare offices unless the supervisors make up for the shortfall in state funding.

“There is a good possibility that I will be faced with layoffs,” he said, adding that he must find another $9 million in his $2-billion budget to pay cost-of-living increases to 900,000 welfare recipients.

The governor left in the budget funds restored by the Legislature to keep open the county’s fire suppression and probation camps.

BUDGET SIGNED Gov. George Deukmejian signs $49.3-billion budget. Part I, Page 1.