Tug of War Over County Budget Gets Under Way

Public hearings on the new Los Angeles County budget began Wednesday with department heads, advocacy groups and private citizens alike pleading for more money and restoration of programs.

The $14.2-billion budget submitted to the Board of Supervisors by Chief Administrative Officer Sally Reed calls for about 1,100 layoffs and the closing of many libraries, parks and museums. It also includes a $184-million deficit.

The board will hold several days of public hearings before it begins the difficult task of reconciling competing demands for money and services.

Some of the board’s work is done. Before the hearings began, supervisors forged deals that will maintain funding in departments headed by two powerful elected officials--Sheriff Sherman Block and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

Garcetti was guaranteed about the same level of funding as last year, plus a share of Proposition 172 tax funds. In return, he agreed to keep intact several specialized prosecution units, such as those that handle workers’ compensation fraud and environmental crimes.

Reed had proposed lopping $60 million from the sheriff’s budget, but the supervisors quickly restored $45 million. Block told the supervisors Wednesday that he could make up the $15 million difference by cutting operating costs.

The board still faces a daunting challenge as it attempts to finalize a budget that relies on revenue that may not materialize.

State legislators could garnish county tax revenues or impose new mandates on the county in an effort to balance the state’s own shaky budget.

Additionally, a major source of revenue in Reed’s proposed budget is $150 million that would be withdrawn from the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Assn. But that plan has met with some resistance from supervisors and pension officials.

“We have some uncertainties in terms of federal funds and what to anticipate from the state,” said board Chairwoman Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. “There are a lot of things that still have to be resolved.”

She added: “But I was very pleased with the tenor of the meeting today. There is a good feeling of cooperation and of a constructive approach to solving these problems.”

Still, the board’s looming headaches were highlighted when representatives of the county’s largest labor union demanded an independent audit of the budget to identify sources of revenue that could be used to eliminate the shortfall.

The demand was inspired by the board’s decision to take $45 million from a little-known reserve fund and give it to the Sheriff’s Department.

“They found money for the sheriff, so we feel like they have some alternatives that they haven’t explored,” said Linda Ramos, a clerk in the county tax collector’s office. She was among about 250 county workers who held a rousing march in front of the Hall of Administration to protest cutbacks.

Gil Cedillo, general manager of Service Employees Union Local 660, which represents about half of the county’s 84,000-member work force, told the board that employees “are committed to working with you, but we will not allow you to balance the budget on our backs.”

Cedillo asked that the board reject any cuts that would force the county to sacrifice revenue from state or federal programs and demanded that the board order an inventory of county-owned property to determine if sale or lease of the properties could reduce the shortfall.

Other speakers addressed proposed cutbacks in county health and welfare programs, the Probation Department and the Department of Animal Care and Control.

About a dozen supporters of animal care services presented the board with 10,000 petitions opposing the proposed closure of the Castaic animal care center. Department chief Frank R. Andrews asked the board to restore $1 million to his department.

“During the wildfires in Malibu, we rescued 1,400 animals, many of them horses that could have added to problems of fighting the fires,” Andrews said. “Under the proposed staffing levels, I don’t know if we would have that capacity.”

Budget hearings will continue through this week and possibly into next. The board is scheduled to begin budget deliberations July 11.