Law Agencies Likely to Escape 5% Cuts : Budgets: A board majority wants to use a $7-million contingency fund set up to spare top-priority departments from reductions.

Ventura County law enforcement agencies probably will be spared from 5% across-the-board cuts when the Board of Supervisors begins its hearings today on the county’s 1991-92 budget, a majority of the supervisors said.

A spending plan tentatively approved by the supervisors last month calls for the cuts in every county department to erase a $13.6-million deficit for the fiscal year that began July 1.

But the supervisors set aside $7 million in a special contingency fund that they can use to spare top-priority departments from the full 5% reductions.

Supervisors John K. Flynn, Maggie Erickson Kildee and Maria VanderKolk said in interviews that they will use the contingency fund to exempt the Sheriff’s Department, the district attorney’s office, the public defender’s office and the Corrections Services Agency from the cuts.

“I think it’s generally going to be an across-the-board cut of 5% everywhere except for law enforcement,” VanderKolk said.

Flynn, chairman of the board’s budget subcommittee, echoed VanderKolk’s position. “There may be a bit of movement in law enforcement,” he said. “There is a possibility that they will not take the whole 5%.”

The three supervisors said they will ask the departments to absorb some reductions, perhaps as much as 3% each.

“Everybody is going to take some kind of cut,” said Erickson Kildee, chairwoman of the board.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury was guaranteed some budget relief when he persuaded the supervisors last week to increase car registration fees by $1 to pay for a team of lawyers to prosecute car thieves.

Bradbury’s office will collect about $500,000 annually from the new fee. VanderKolk said the district attorney is planning to ask the supervisors for a cut of only 3%.

Bradbury could not be reached Friday.

The prosecutor’s appeal for the new auto fee was part of an intense two-month lobbying effort on behalf of the Sheriff’s Department and district attorney’s office.

The Peace Officers Assn. of Ventura County purchased a full-page advertisement last week in local newspapers, urging the supervisors to “prioritize their difficult spending decisions.” The ad, which included such headlines as “Violent Crime Rate Increases in County Area,” asks residents to write to the supervisors and “let your voice be heard.”

Last month, a group that included ambulance drivers and chemical company executives wrote to the supervisors to urge that the sheriff’s office of emergency services be spared from cuts.

A 5% cut to all departments would eliminate 123 positions, most of which are vacant. In the four law enforcement agencies, officials say the cuts would include:

* 49 jobs in the Sheriff’s Department, including 23 officers, and the closing of the Rose Valley Work Camp;

* 11 prosecutors in the district attorney’s office;

* nine positions in the Corrections Services Agency, including four probation officers and three corrections officers from the work-furlough program;

* two attorneys, an investigator and an office assistant in the public defender’s office.

The cuts to the four agencies would save about $1.6 million annually, according to the budget.

Departments that most likely will not be spared include the Health Care Agency, which would lose a microbiologist and a physical therapist, and the Public Social Services Agency, which would lose two social workers.

Some other departments will not lose positions, but will lose funding. Among the cuts are:

* $29,300 from the county clerk’s office, which would reduce the number of polling places from 470 to 387;

* $7,600 from a county grand jury fund that pays auditors and investigators; $111,600 from the Municipal Court fund that pays extra bookkeepers.

Flynn, the senior member of the board, said he does not believe that the economy will rebound next year. He said he will urge the supervisors today to leave about $1.5 million in the contingency fund for unforeseen expenses and increases in salaries and benefits.

“We will be hard-pressed to give any salary increases except for adjustments” to keep wages competitive with other counties, he said.

Flynn said he will also ask the board to establish strict guidelines for using a $4-million emergency fund that was created with savings from 6% cuts ordered by the supervisors in January.

Flynn and Erickson Kildee also said the Legislature is trying to realign funding for some state-mandated programs operated by the county, such as mental health services. That could force the county to spend more on those programs and money also should be set aside for such costs, they said.

“I think we are going to see changes, and I don’t know what that is going to be,” Erickson Kildee said.

The supervisors have already decided not to spend $1.3 million diverted in May from the property tax of 10 local cities. City officials refused to pay new county fees for booking prisoners at County Jail and for the cost of collecting property taxes for the cities. The cities have sued the county to void the fees and get their money back.

FYI

Ventura County budget hearings begin today at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors’ chamber at the county Government Center. Beginning at 6 p.m. today, the supervisors will listen to public testimony. The hearings will continue on Tuesday after the supervisors complete their regular meeting, which starts at 8:30 a.m. If necessary, the hearings will continue on Wednesday, beginning at 9 a.m.