Health Department Wins, Sheriff Loses in Budget Plan

Reversing the trend of the past decade, Los Angeles County’s budget chief is proposing a spending plan that would slice the biggest cuts out of law enforcement agencies while fully funding the health department, according to county officials familiar with the $13.5-billion budget.

The budget, which Chief Administrative Officer Sally Reed will deliver to the Board of Supervisors on Monday, also would once again cut back libraries, parks, recreation and museum programs, said officials who have been briefed on the budget.

One of the deepest cuts in the closely guarded proposal would be inflicted on the Sheriff’s Department, which would lose about $60 million, according to budget documents obtained by The Times.

“It’s ludicrous,” said Sheriff Sherman Block, who has been informed of the budget plan. “We’re talking about closing at least two custody facilities. That’s the only place left to cut.”

Other key law enforcement departments facing cuts include the Probation Department, which would suffer a cut of about $39.8 million, and the district attorney’s office, which would lose about $4 million, budget documents show.

Reed’s spending priorities contrast sharply to those shaping budgets at the local, state and federal level. Public demand for law and order is resulting in more money for many public safety agencies. In the city of Los Angeles, for example, Mayor Richard Riordan has proposed a significant buildup of the Police Department.

“A whole range of county services are important,” Block said. “But unless they are provided in a climate of safety and security, they cannot be utilized.”

The Board of Supervisors, which generally has been supportive of public safety departments, has the final say on the budget and could reject or drastically alter Reed’s proposal. All five supervisors were in Washington, D.C., Thursday and could not be reached for comment, but an aide for Supervisor Gloria Molina said the board has not expressed an interest in such deep cuts for law enforcement.

Reed would not discuss details of the plan before it is delivered to the board, but said in a brief interview that the budget is a difficult balancing act. Reed said she tried to give as much money as possible to health and welfare departments because most of their programs receive state and federal matching funds, sometimes at the rate of $7 to every $1 of county funds.

Outside law enforcement, the largest cut is planned for the office of the assessor, which prepares real estate tax bills. It is facing a 25% cut in funding, or roughly $21.5 million, which would require 400 layoffs and could result in $170 million in lost tax revenue, according to Chief Deputy Assessor Gary Townsend. “This will have a drastic impact,” Townsend said.

Even with the proposed cuts, some officials said it appears that thousands of layoffs once anticipated by Reed will not be needed.

One of the few large departments to receive full funding is the huge Health Services Department, which operates six major hospitals and more than 40 smaller clinics that largely serve the poor. Only last month Reed was recommending a $500-million cut in the health department. That would have resulted in the closure of at least one and possibly two hospitals.

Mental health services, which was once expected to suffer a $30-million cut, would lose just $1.9 million under the current proposal.

Reed’s earlier budget estimates were based on her calculation that the county was facing a $900-million deficit. But the board felt that figure was too high and directed Reed to work with department heads and special interest groups to find additional revenue or other alternatives to her suggested cuts.

As a result, Reed was able to reduce her estimate of the deficit to just $184 million, through a combination of identifying new revenue and deferring some expenses. Much of the new revenue that she identified in the proposed budget has been allocated to the Health Department.

David Langness, of the Hospital Council of Southern California, applauded the spending priorities outlined by Reed. He said the turnabout mirrors the changing composition of the Board of Supervisors from a board dominated by conservatives to one with a more liberal majority.

“We convinced (the county) that health care had been disproportionately cut in the past,” Langness said. “For the first time, the sheriff is not getting what he asked for.”

Sheriff Block, sizing up the county’s priorities, responded: “Fear is the worst affliction in this community.”

Though he was buoyed by the chief administrative officer’s proposal, Langness and others remain concerned about an unresolved $184-million shortfall. And there are lingering concerns about some of the assumptions on which the budget is based.

The budget is precariously balanced on expectations of new funding from state and federal sources and on a proposed $150 million in concessions from the county employee pension fund. It also counts on pending state legislation that would allow new taxing powers to fund libraries. The county could also benefit from a proposed state bill that would help fund the assessor’s office.

“There are some optimistic assumptions,” Reed acknowledged.

One of the most questionable is the $150 million from the Los Angeles County Employee Retirement Assn. Several officials of the retirement association have privately told supervisors that they will not go along with the county’s request. “I’m hopeful, but it is anything but a sure thing,” Reed said.

Other departments facing deep cuts under Reed’s plan include: Childrens Services, $11.8 million; Parks and Recreation, $6.7 million; the Social Services, $5.2 million; Board of Supervisors, $5 million, and Museum of Natural History, $2.4 million.

Among departments for which full funding is proposed are the municipal courts, the public defender and the coroner.

The supervisors are expected to give the budget proposal tentative approval at their regular Tuesday meeting. That would clear the way for public hearings, which are scheduled to begin June 1 and run through June 10. The Board of Supervisors would begin formal deliberations on July 11 and should complete the budget by July 15.