County Budget Is Approved : Finances: Plan staves off possibly severe program cutbacks until September, when question of health funds transfer will be decided.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in a whirlwind session Thursday, approved a $14.5-billion budget that essentially maintains services for now and postpones until September decisions on potentially severe cuts in law enforcement and other programs.

The board decided to tackle this year’s budget in two phases because of pending legislation in Sacramento that would allow the county to transfer millions of dollars in health funds to other county departments and thus avoid deep cuts.

The decision is a gamble because the transfer depends on winning agreements with both state and federal authorities. If the transfer is not allowed, the county will be forced to return to the table and make an additional $168 million in cuts, much of it from public safety agencies such as the probation and sheriff’s departments and the district attorney’s office.

Supervisors were willing to take that chance to avoid painful reductions that would have meant immediate closure of parks, hospitals, libraries, museums and jails.

“We are doing the best we can with limited resources,” said board Chairwoman Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. “It’s not the best approach or the ideal approach, but it is the best we can do under the circumstances.”

As it is, the budget relies on hundreds of millions of dollars of one-time revenues to pay for continuing programs. Chief Administrative Officer Sally Reed had hoped to move away from the practice of dipping into special accounts, such as emergency assistance funds, to finance county departments because it does not solve the long-term problems. In addition, the board’s actions left the county with a relatively small reserve of $52 million for emergencies.

“I think the board showed restraint today,” Reed said. “Clearly, they were trying to maintain almost all services until we find out about the (transfer). It’s a big gamble, with the consequences that in September there will be issues that will require serious action from them.”

The sum of Thursday’s board actions were $57 million in cuts that include:

* $1.9 million from mental health services.

* $3.2 million from the assessor’s office.

* $4 million from the district attorney.

* $4 million from the Department of Public Social Services.

* $2.8 million from the Beaches and Harbors Department.

* $15 million from the Sheriff’s Department.

* $12 million from the Probation Department.

However, most of those cuts will be accomplished through reducing administrative overhead and are not expected to result in elimination of services. The cuts approved Thursday were far less than those originally proposed by Reed. In May, she asked all department heads to prepare for across-the-board cuts of 33%.

In a flurry of motions, the board dipped into various discretionary funds to reduce those proposed cuts by millions of dollars.

The budget outlook brightened when county officials were notified this week that they would receive $31.7 million more in property taxes than they had expected. That and other reserves gave the board a pool of about $53 million that could be used to plug holes in the budget.

Recipients of the largess included the assessor’s office, which had $6.8 million restored to its budget.

Other restorations included:

* $500,000 to finance the purchase of reference materials and books for county libraries.

* $250,000 for the Department of Public Works to fund anti-graffiti programs.

* $273,000 for the Music and Performing Arts Commission.

* $500,000 for the Beaches and Harbors Department to fund beach maintenance programs.

But the county remains in a precarious position. To make up the remaining shortfall, the county is asking the federal government to pay $780 million in Medi-Cal reimbursements owed to the county Department of Health Services.

Federal officials have provided no assurance that the funds will be released.

If the county gets the money, about $600 million of it would be used to maintain current levels of care in the Department of Health Services. The county will seek support for legislation that would allow it to use the remaining funds for other departments.

Reed said the county will pursue that request when the Legislature reconvenes in August. However, that move is likely to draw opposition from health care advocates who want the money to remain in the health department.

“We absolutely oppose using that money for non-health purposes,” said Melinda Bird, an attorney with the Western Center on Law and Poverty. “The (funding) problems are not going to magically end this year. I would hate to be talking to you a year from now about having to close County-USC Hospital or Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center or another major hospital because $200 million was taken away from health services this year.”

Health Services Director Robert C. Gates agreed that his department could face shortfalls again next year if the transfer is approved. But he said he will support the board’s attempt to divert health care funds for use in other departments this time.

“The issue is, do you use those available funds to keep the entire county whole one more year in the hopes of finding additional revenue sources?” he said. “We will do what we are able to do to convince the advocates that the overall county interests are served by using this money where it is needed.”