County Faces $17-Million Shortfall in ’95 Budget

Ventura County administrators unveiled an $880.5-million budget proposal Wednesday that boosts criminal justice programs while projecting cuts in health and social services programs.

In one of its tightest budget years yet, the county nonetheless expects to increase overall spending by 4.7% and add 342 employees to its staff in fiscal year 1995--most of them sheriff’s deputies, jail workers and prosecutors.

But Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg warned that county leaders still must pare the budget to adjust for a $17-million deficit.

“Without question, your board is now facing the most difficult budget deficit and reduction situation since the passage of Proposition 13,” Wittenberg wrote the Board of Supervisors in a letter attached to the budget.

Wittenberg recommended eliminating the budget shortfall by drawing $9 million from reserves and slicing $8 million from county programs. He stopped short of recommending specific cuts, saying that department heads would present their recommendations to supervisors in final hearings that begin July 25.

“The choices they will present to you will all seem unacceptable and certainly unpopular, but some must be made,” Wittenberg wrote.

He also warned that the state could leave the county another $10 million short before the end of July and suggested the board consider new ways of providing services.

“Whether we call it reinventing, restructuring, downsizing or cuts, the time is here for change in Ventura County government,” he wrote.

Supervisor John K. Flynn said he was prepared to turn some of the county’s responsibilities over to the state or the cities. “I think county government needs to look at itself and maybe spin off some of the things that it does,” he said Wednesday. “We need to do that, and now is the time to do it.”

State cuts and a sluggish economy have combined to make crafting Ventura County’s budget increasingly difficult. Supervisors have cut $44.2 million in programs in the past five years. Even so, the size of the budget, which includes funding for flood and sanitation districts, continues to grow.

This year, Wittenberg asked all his department heads, except public safety agencies, to propose 2% cuts in their budgets. When Gov. Pete Wilson announced new state reductions in June, the supervisors asked for deeper cuts, ranging from 8% to 18% for most departments.

The budget proposal released Wednesday recommends $179.2 million for criminal justice, a 20% increase. The county’s share of that figure is $103.1 million, with the remainder coming from state and federal sources or from fees.

The bulk of that increase comes from the extension of a half-cent sales tax approved last year under Proposition 172. In March, the board promised $24 million of the sales tax revenue to the Sheriff’s Department and district attorney. Another $4 million has yet to be committed.

Funding for health and social programs, which range from Ventura County Medical Center to mandated welfare services, will rise to $188.8 million, up 7.5%. But some of that funding could be lost to state cuts. And the county’s share, only about $17 million of the total, is dropping.

Wittenberg said the county would not know the full extent of state reductions until the end of the month, at about the same time the supervisors consider the final budget.

Wittenberg’s budget leaves undecided the fate of the county’s library system. The 15-branch system receives its own pool of property tax money, but will need a contribution from the county government to keep all libraries open.

Last year, the supervisors came through with a $1.6-million bailout for the libraries. Wittenberg did not include that figure in his proposed budget, but gives supervisors the option of spending contingency funds set aside for emergencies.

Board members spent the past two weeks meeting with county department heads about the budget situation. Even so, they reached little consensus on where to make cuts.

“They’re going to have to be deep and they’re going to have to hurt,” said Supervisor Susan Lacey. “But where they’re going to be, we haven’t heard from all the departments yet.”

Proposed 1995 County Budget

General fund 1993-94 1994-95 % change Human resources $175.6 million $188.8 million +7.5% Criminal justice $149.2 million $179.2 million +20.1% Environmental $21 million $20.7 million -1.1% General government $63.2 million $70.4 million +11.4% Other $25 million $22.3 million -11% Total general $434.2 million $481.6 million +10.9% Other funds $406.9 million $398.8 million -2% Total budget $841.2 million $880.5 million +4.7%

Source: Ventura County chief administrative office