Job Freeze Proposed for County : Budget: Supervisors are being asked to freeze virtually all hiring and construction for at least four months.

Orange County government “is experiencing a period of extreme financial stress” and virtually all new hiring and construction should be frozen for at least four months, according to a midyear budget staff report obtained Tuesday.

The report, which the Board of Supervisors will consider next week, says that declining state revenue, booming demand for services and a worsening national economy are leaving the county severely strapped. In addition, drives for cityhood in El Toro and Laguna Hills threaten to strip the county of $7.7 million a year in revenue.

“We’re all going to experience some reductions and some setbacks,” said Vicki Stewart, a manager in the county administrative office. “It’s unfortunate, but I’m afraid it’s true.”

Because many issues are still unresolved, no specific estimate of the overall shortfall is provided. But officials said they expect the coming crunch to be even worse than the one that confronted the county last summer, when the government had to raise fees and cut programs in order to make up a deficit of more than $46 million.

“This is going to be a very, very tough year,” Supervisor Thomas F. Riley said. “In the 16 years that I’ve been on the board I don’t think we’ve experienced anything even close to this bad.”

” . . . We’re going to have to take a good look at a lot of the things that we’re doing,” he said.

Supervisor Don R. Roth, who has urged his colleagues to pay close attention to the looming budget deficits, has echoed Riley’s concerns. Without prompt action, Roth has warned, some of the county’s 16,000 workers may have to be laid off to keep the county budget balanced.

County budget officials recommend that the board take drastic measures to deal with the projected shortfalls. If approved, the hiring and construction freezes would go into effect immediately and stay in place at least until the next budget review, which is scheduled for March.

Until then, the county administrative office would be authorized to approve new hires only to fill critical vacancies or vacancies in positions that produce more revenue than it costs to fill them. Any capital project not considered part of a “critical safety need” or not already under contract would be frozen or canceled.

In addition, six community programs--among them five that serve troubled youngsters--would lose their funding after Jan. 7.

The recommendations also extend to more minuscule items: The Sheriff’s Department, for instance, should continue its effort to save $36,000 by reducing the number of bullets it uses at its target range and by buying cheaper targets.

The budget office also recommends that sheriff’s deputies be charged for they meals they eat while working in the jails, for a projected savings of $80,000 over the next six months. Another proposal suggests that inmates be used to field some telephone calls from the public for a potential saving of $40,000.

Budget officials are also recommending that the board adopt a controversial “jail-booking fee,” which would charge cities and school districts $183 for every inmate they book into county jail.

Cities have loudly protested that proposal. Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young, for instance, has said it would devastate his city’s law-enforcement efforts and create a broad public safety crisis in Orange County. Young has said the $183 fee would cost his city as much as $6 million and could force the Police Department to lay off officers.

“It’ll be severe,” said Bill Hodge, executive director of the League of Cities, Orange County division, of the fee. “The cities are trying to hold out an olive branch, and we’re hopeful that the board isn’t wielding an ax.”

Representatives of Orange County cities plan to attend next week’s meeting to plead their case, Hodge added. A public hearing on the matter will be scheduled for January, when the board is expected to take a final action.

Although county officials acknowledge that the fee could hurt some cities, they say that without it, they would be forced to defer earthquake-safety retrofitting of the county courthouse and would have to cut several other planned projects.

“Implementation of a jail booking fee is a difficult decision,” a separate report, also obtained Tuesday, concedes. “The cities adamantly oppose this fee and have reported it will cause severe fiscal constraints if it is implemented.”

The jail booking report will go to the board next week, along with the budget report. Together, they will set the stage for an eagerly anticipated jail debate Dec. 18. Supporters of a new jail in Gypsum Canyon hope to press ahead with that project, but opponents warn that the county simply cannot afford it.

It has been estimated that the canyon jail would cost more than $1 billion to build, although a report sent to the county Monday notes that a more modest jail could be built on the same site for about half that. The current budget shortfall, however, illustrates how difficult even building the less-expensive jail would be.

In fact, it is projected that the expansion of the Theo Lacy Branch Jail will have a dramatic impact on county spending once new beds begin being used late in the year.

The Sheriff’s Department has estimated that it will cost an additional $10 million a year to operate the expanded Theo Lacy.

Further, the Health Care Agency has requested an additional $3.2 million to pay for the workers needed to staff the medical facilities at the jail.