County Short-Changed on Funds, Judge Rules

Bolstering San Diego County’s claim that the state has shortchanged it by tens of millions of dollars in mental health funding, a local judge tentatively ruled Thursday that the county has been deprived of its fair share of some of those dollars.

In what county officials hailed as a significant decision that strengthens their hand in their nearly 3-year-old lawsuit against the state, Superior Court Judge Barbara Gamer tentatively decided that the state’s method of distributing mental health dollars violates a law governing such allocations.

“This is a step in the right direction, but it’s only the first step,” said Deputy County Counsel Michael Poynor. “This ruling does not solve San Diego’s complete mental health needs. Only a complete restructuring of the financing formula, so that every county gets its fair share--nothing more and nothing less--will do that.”

But an attorney for the state, emphasizing that Gamer’s ruling is only tentative and does not directly address the overall equity of the state’s mental health funding system, characterized Thursday’s ruling as a relatively small battle in a war that could have statewide implications.

“It sounds like the county is getting a little ahead of itself, because this is not a final decision, and it does not even deal with the fair share and overall fairness question,” said state attorney Lesley Sive.

Similar to two 1986 lawsuits that San Diego filed against the state concerning alleged inequities in the distribution of property taxes and other revenues, the mental health suit stems from the county’s complaint that its allocation of state revenue for that purpose is also vastly inadequate.

Though county officials concede that the San Diego delegation’s lack of legislative clout in Sacramento contributed to the predicament, they argue that unfair funding formulas--and the state’s failure to adhere to its own guidelines--have dramatically worsened the financial shortfall.

During earlier hearings, Poynor emphasized that San Diego receives $19 per capita annually for mental health services, less than the statewide average of $28 and far below the $62 per person awarded to San Francisco County. Since the mid-1980s, the gap between San Diego’s allocation and the statewide average has cost the county about $20 million annually, Poynor said.

“Because of the state’s funding discrimination, we have been prevented from providing needed care to the mentally ill of this region,” county Supervisor George Bailey said. “The impact of this unfair situation can be seen on our streets every day. This is legally and morally wrong.”

Thursday’s tentative decision came in the first phase of a two-part trial. In the more critical second phase, scheduled to begin late next month, the county will ask the court to rule on the legality of the state’s overall mental health funding formula, which county attorneys contend violates the equal protection clauses of the state and federal constitutions.

The origin of Thursday’s ruling is a 1986 state law specifying that any additional mental health dollars beyond those then being received by counties should go to under-funded counties such as San Diego. However, rather than strictly comply with that measure--an attempt to at least partly remedy funding inequities--the state actually has sent millions of additional dollars to counties such as San Francisco, Marin, San Mateo, Napa and Alameda that already receive allocations in excess of the statewide average, county officials said.

In tentatively siding with the county on that question, Gamer ruled that the state has, in fact, violated the provisions of that law.