Supervisors Approve $31.4 Million in Budget Cutbacks

Orange County supervisors gave final approval Tuesday to funding reductions of $31.4 million that will mean cutbacks for county libraries, fire stations, courts and other services.

Among the cost-cutting measures approved by the county: buying fewer new books and delaying planned expansions at county libraries; reducing salaries and employee benefits for County Fire Department personnel; cutting back on maintenance at local parks, and possibly reducing pay and reimbursements for jurors.

The cuts have been predicted for months, but county officials have had to sort through the state budget until now to determine the local impact.

Coupled with about $42 million in cuts that the supervisors made in September, the latest reductions mean that county programs will take one of their worst financial hits in recent history, officials said.

“That’s right up there at the top if not the top” for total cuts in the county’s budget, said budget analyst Pam Leaning. This year’s budget totals $3.5 billion.

The Board of Supervisors approved the cuts Tuesday by a 5-0 vote, but there was little discussion about the impact they would have on county programs. Instead, the board’s focus was on fiscal problems ahead.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger R. Stanton praised county staff for doing a “marvelous” job with the budget, leaving the county better prepared than many of its neighbors to absorb deep state reductions.

And he stressed: “The county did not--did not--impose any new taxes or fees to balance this budget.” No layoffs are planned either.

Yet, even after this year’s cuts, county officials say they expect more belt-tightening because of both the continued recession and attempts by the state to pass along more financial responsibility to the counties. State officials are already predicting a state budget deficit of at least $3 billion next year.

“The budget picture for the next fiscal year . . . appears bleak--as bleak, less bleak, we’re not sure. But it’s not a rosy picture,” Stanton said.

“It’s like a house of mirrors,” he added. “You think you’re out of the maze and then you come up again and see some more images that make you realize there are some other obstacles that have been placed in your way.”

County staff is proposing that the supervisors streamline the process by extending the budget cycle to two years instead of one.

Under the current system, he said, county officials end up reviewing many department proposals that they then do not have the money to implement. A two-year budget review would help avoid that problem and “reduces a lot of administrative work,” county budget director Ronald S. Rubino said.

Earlier budget cuts by the county have taken their biggest toll in funding for health and social services, forcing the closure of one mental health clinic in Garden Grove and reducing service levels elsewhere as well.

This latest round of cuts centers on court operations and on county special districts that rely on property tax money funneled through the state to fund such areas as libraries, fire protection, flood control, and harbors, beaches and parks. Under the state budget plan approved in Sacramento on Sept. 2, much of this money was transferred to fund schools.