County May Use Brief Closings to Cut Deficit : Budget: A day-at-a-time closure of facilities may be used by the county in an effort to trim the $30-million budget deficit during the next four months.

San Diego County health clinics, welfare offices, parks and other facilities could close for a day at a time during the next four months in an effort to chip away at the county’s $30-million budget deficit.

County supervisors Tuesday authorized Chief Administrative Officer Norman Hickey to begin planning the closures to save an estimated $1.5 million before the fiscal year ends June 30.

The plan means that county residents could find individual facilities closed or not staffed on selected days--probably Fridays--over the next four months, officials said. Each facility might close for as much as five days during that time.

“It’s a choice of either missing services for one day or not having them at all at the end of the year,” said Supervisor Brian Bilbray. “We’re trying to maintain the county operations as best we can within the available funds.”

Round-the-clock institutions, such as jails and county-operated hospitals, would be exempt from the closures.

Although the idea behind the closures is to save the county money, employees who decline to take time off would be reassigned to open facilities for the day, or be asked to take a paid vacation day, county officials said.

With revenue sources failing to meet projections, the county has struggled with a fluctuating budget deficit throughout the fiscal year that began July 1. The shortfall is now estimated at about $30 million.

Budget cuts and a freeze on hiring have helped the county make headway against the deficit, but the county is headed toward the final quarter of the fiscal year with no solution to its financial woes in sight.

The latest plan is designed to allow more county employees to take advantage of a voluntary time-off-without-pay program that already has saved the county $1.4 million in unpaid salaries and Social Security payments. By the end of the fiscal year, the total savings should reach about $3.5 million.

The county hopes to reap at least $1.5 million more in savings through the closures and could achieve $8 million or $9 million if the entire county work force of about 15,000 employees were to sign up, said Assistant Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen. So far, about 37% of the work force has taken voluntary time off.

County employee unions two weeks ago refused to agree to mandatory work furloughs. Under their collective bargaining agreement with the county, administrators cannot impose the mandatory time off without the unions’ consent.

But union officials told administrators that some department managers were refusing to allow their employees to take voluntary time off because work would not get done.

More employees could take voluntary time off if facilities were closed, said Kraig Peck, assistant to the director of the San Diego County Service Council, which represents the vast majority of county workers.

Facility closures would allow all employees to take days off without pay and relieve managers of the problem of staffing offices, Janssen said.

“What we’re doing here is trying to invigorate and enhance the voluntary time-off program that we have by allowing certain departments to more closely explore ways that their employees can take time off,” said Manuel Lopez, the county’s director of financial management.

The county lacks the authority to close courthouses, but will approach Superior and Municipal Court judges about shutting down for a day or more, Janssen said.