COUNTY WATCH : This Wolf Is Real

If you think Los Angeles County is crying wolf, read what the state legislative analyst’s office has to say. The nonpartisan state agency strongly echoes the warnings of county Chief Administrative Officer Sally Reed, who says the county could face bankruptcy unless there are massive layoffs and cutbacks.

The new report, requested by skeptical lawmakers, says the county probably will need the kinds of far-reaching measures proposed by Reed, including the closure of County-USC Medical Center. It is a wake-up call for Sacramento.

While no one is expecting the state to bail out Los Angeles, Sacramento could help by seeing that the state budget now being negotiated does not take money away from local governments, as past budgets did. Lawmakers also could help by approving a measure that would allow counties to assess a tippler’s tax on alcoholic drinks in restaurants and bars.

Many in Sacramento had refused to believe that there was a real problem in Los Angeles, partly because the Board of Supervisors was spending so freely. The analyst’s office said that a structural budget problem had been exacerbated by overspending and costly one-time fixes by the supervisors. In some departments, employee salaries have risen faster than inflation since 1988-89. As recently as July 1, 20 department heads received cost-of-living raises totaling $40,000. Some may give back their raises, but the very fact that the pay hikes weren’t put on hold explains all too well why Los Angeles County had a credibility problem in Sacramento in the first place.