County Firefighters Expect Bigger Tax Share : Finances: Union official says three supervisors now support giving the department some of the Proposition 172 money.

A majority of Ventura County supervisors have promised to share more sales tax revenue with the County Fire Department, prompting the county firefighters union to drop its threat of taking the issue to the voters, the union’s top official said Wednesday.

Ken Maffei, president of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters’ Assn., said three county supervisors have made commitments in private meetings to distribute at least some of the $27 million in extra sales taxes to the Fire Department.

Union officials have spent months lobbying for a share of the revenue being generated by the extension of a half-cent sales tax. The voters extended the tax last year by passing Proposition 172, which called for the money to be used to improve public safety. But the county supervisors directed virtually all of the money to law enforcement and left the Fire Department with nothing.

Maffei said Supervisors Susan K. Lacey, Vicky Howard and Maggie Kildee agreed that they would give some of the sales tax revenue to the Fire Department during budget hearings in June.

“We didn’t hold a gun to their heads,” Maffei said. “They either do the right thing or they don’t.”

In March, the board infuriated the 433-member Fire Department by promising almost all the Proposition 172 funds to law enforcement.

Ventura County Fire Chief George Lund announced his resignation a day after he walked out in disgust from the supervisors’ meeting. A week later, the union voted to begin a campaign to take the matter to the voters in November.

At the time, supervisors defended their decision, saying they were reluctant to give money to the Fire Department until it had streamlined its management. A county audit last year criticized the department for having too many managers, spending too much on overtime and being lax with sick leave.

But Lacey, Howard and Kildee changed their minds after union officials lobbied them in private meetings over the past few weeks, Maffei said. He said the union had ordered a public opinion survey regarding the Proposition 172 funds, and respondents had overwhelmingly favored giving some of the money to fire services. Maffei said he had presented the survey results to the supervisors and it helped sway their opinions.

The department will request $2 million from the sales tax revenue, he said. Lund had initially asked for $5.5 million to help restore some of the 19 positions that had been lost to budget cuts over the last two years.

Supervisor Maria VanderKolk said she also met with union officials but told them that she is inclined to vote against the request because she believes that Proposition 172 funds are earmarked for law enforcement.

Maffei said Supervisor John K. Flynn refused to return the union’s calls. Flynn said Wednesday that he considered it a “violation of the public trust” to discuss such matters privately and was surprised that his fellow board members had done so.

“Those kind of discussions need to take place in the public boardroom at the budget hearing,” Flynn said. “The Board of Supervisors in the last two years has gotten into more trouble doing things behind the scene.”

Kildee said she did not reconsider the firefighters’ request simply because of a private meeting, but because of progress she has seen in the department’s restructuring.

“What I have seen coming out of the fire district is the beginning of the strategic plan we had talked about,” she said.

Howard said she plans to share Proposition 172 money with the Fire Department if initial projections of a $26-million windfall were too low. The supervisors in March decided to give $24 million to law enforcement and will decide how to allocate the remaining $2 million later.

“We’ll do it if there is something over and above what has been set aside,” Howard said.

City officials, who had also lobbied unsuccessfully in March for $2.6 million of the Proposition 172 funds, said Wednesday that they were disappointed to hear that excess funds would go the County Fire Department.

Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo criticized the supervisors for changing their minds when the Fire Department has yet to streamline its operations.

“This is not a good time to do that,” he said.

Camarillo City Manager Bill Little said sales tax revenues are generated primarily by residents in the cities, not unincorporated areas of the county, and should be spent by the cities.

“I think it’s wrong, and it’s unfair,” Little said. “But it doesn’t surprise us. The Fire Department has much more access to them than the cities do.”

Other county department heads set to receive Proposition 172 money said they are pleased that the Fire Department would share in the funds.

“They deserve it,” said Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury, whose office will get about $2 million.

“The Fire Department is public safety,” Sheriff Larry Carpenter said, “and it’s an important part of it.” Carpenter’s department will receive the lion’s share of the tax revenue, about $17 million, next year.

Cal Remington, deputy director of the Correction Services Agency, said he thought that the initial $26-million figure was too conservative, and does not expect county departments to be competing with each other in June over the Proposition 172 money.

County Auditor-Controller Thomas O. Mahon said he estimates that Proposition 172 funds will top $27 million.

Maffei said if the supervisors back out on their promises during the June budget hearings, the union will force a special election on the issue.

“If we get screwed, we’ll go for a special election,” Maffei said. “I’d rather not put an initiative on the ballot. It’s a lot of money, time and effort.”

Peggy Y. Lee is a staff writer and Phyllis W. Jordan is a correspondent.