Despite Gains, County Lobbies for State Help : Budget: Officials fear that news of windfalls will endanger bills that would benefit health care and libraries. They say the funds still are urgently needed.

Los Angeles County officials are waging a furious last-minute campaign to persuade Gov. Pete Wilson to sign legislation that would spare libraries and health clinics, despite revelations that the county now has more money in its budget than anticipated.

Officials say they are concerned that publicity about the recent discovery of a multimillion-dollar budget savings will lead Wilson to conclude that the county does not need the money, dooming dozens of health clinics and libraries that are scheduled to close.

But as the county pleads for relief, it also continues to receive good financial news, the latest of which came in a report that it has greatly narrowed the huge budget shortfall that set the current fiscal crisis in motion.

In a memo submitted to supervisors this week, county administrators disclosed that the county has been able to close two-thirds of its original $1.4-billion budget deficit. And if the legislation is approved and unions ratify a pending labor settlement, the gap will be less than $100 million, Chief Administrative Officer Harry L. Hufford said.

Among the county’s more significant accomplishments, Hufford said, were persuading state and federal authorities to provide $200 million more in health funding, and pressing the Legislature to exempt fire protection and other special districts from a controversial property tax shift, yielding about $150 million.

Hufford said the county also successfully lobbied Wilson to extend the temporary half-cent sales tax surcharge beyond its June 30 expiration date. (The gain from that was not immediately clear, however: Hufford said the extension provided $361.6 million, but Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke contended it was closer to $180 million.)

Meanwhile, the largest of the county’s labor unions is scheduled to vote next week on whether to ratify a recently negotiated labor settlement that county managers say will save about $103 million. Labor leaders say they expect the agreement to be approved.

County officials say they are pleased with the progress on the once-dire fiscal front, but they concede that its timing might harm efforts to persuade Sacramento and the public that a crisis still exists. Not only is Wilson poised to decide the fate of libraries and health clinics, but the public will also have a big hand in determining the county’s fortunes when it considers on the November ballot whether to extend the half-cent sales tax increase.

The county is suffering through what has been described as its worst fiscal crisis ever, and indeed, much of the closing of the shortfall is because of painful service cuts, a $70-million reduction in general relief welfare grants and layoffs of hundreds of workers.

County services could be in for further cuts if any of the pending measures fail, Burke noted Thursday during a meeting with Times editors and reporters.

Burke said she met with Wilson last week to urge support of the sales tax extension, and she was co-author with Supervisor Deane Dana of a letter urging the governor’s approval of the library and health clinic bills.

The library bill would provide $32 million through creation of an assessment district to keep 43 public libraries operating, and the health bill would free up $72.8 million in state tobacco tax money to fund 24 health clinics that are slated to close.

A spokesman for Wilson said Thursday that although he still has not decided whether to approve the legislation, the county’s latest fiscal position, including the savings, will be taken into consideration.

“He is aware of the latest news, but it’s hard to say if it will have a direct impact on his decision,” spokeswoman Beth Miller said.