ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : It’s Time to Say the T-Word--Taxes

In the nearly three months since Orange County declared bankruptcy, the supervisors have been united on one thing: aversion to tax increases. That intransigence in the face of a $1.69-billion investment loss and big bills due soon is a poor excuse for a recovery plan.

The county’s new chief executive officer, William J. Popejoy, has stepped forward decisively as a player. He fired the former top administrative officer over the weekend; the county counsel is leaving next month; Popejoy is pressuring others to leave.

The shake-up has made a dramatic statement about harm already done. However, those targeted by Popejoy were not alone in bearing responsibility. The supervisors allowed then-Treasurer Robert L. Citron to invest the county’s money in risky ways.

More important for the future will be the plans that Popejoy will begin unveiling later this week to help the county fight its way back to solvency. But whatever the merits of the plan, it must be remembered that it is up to the supervisors, not Popejoy, to make tough decisions to bring about recovery. Popejoy was appointed for a nine-month term to carry out the supervisors’ policies. He was not expected to be the white knight, riding to the rescue; it’s up to the board to lead the way out of the fiscal morass.

No one likes taxes, but the board’s knee-jerk reaction against them has upset Sacramento officials. State Treasurer Matt Fong, a Republican, last week warned Orange County to move more quickly to set up a recovery plan if it hopes to avoid defaulting on $1 billion in county debt coming due this summer. State Sen. Lucy Killea (I-San Diego) has proposed legislation that would let Orange County voters strip the supervisors of all fiscal authority and turn budgetary matters over to a group of trustees.

That might have been mostly an attention-getting measure, but it does indicate concern over Orange County’s lack of a realistic plan to produce needed revenues. Asset sales and privatization, if done right, won’t take place quickly enough to resolve the county’s immediate fiscal needs. Meanwhile, important services face elimination and school districts like Santa Ana consider cutting athletics by half and eliminating music programs.

The county’s fiscal crater is so deep that it is likely to require more layoffs, selling some assets, privatizing some services and other changes to save money. The supervisors cannot afford to rule out anything, including taxes.