Countywide : Mittermeier Discusses O.C. Recovery Plan

In the aftermath of the Legislature’s approval of Orange County’s bankruptcy recovery plan, the county’s chief executive met Tuesday night with a group of corporate directors at the Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach to discuss what lies ahead.

Several audience members asked Interim Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier how county officials plan to win back the confidence of their constituency and of financial markets.

“I think it’s already happening,” Mittermeier said. “I think once the governor signs these bills, and there’s a guaranteed revenue stream, you’ll see confidence going up.

“We’re going to get back on our feet. I think the passage of this legislation was key,” she added. “I think it will be a painful process for the next several years but we have a good economy, a growing economy and I think we’ll find our way.”

A package of county recovery bills was approved Saturday and sent to Gov. Pete Wilson, who has pledged to sign them.

The package would give the county the power to siphon $38 million annually in sales tax money that now goes to the Orange County Transit Authority. In exchange, the legislation lets the county shift to the transit agency $23 million a year in gas tax money slated for road construction.

Another $12 million each year will be taken from restricted funds that normally would go to the county’s redevelopment agency, harbors, beaches, parks and flood control district.

The county declared bankruptcy Dec. 6 after its investment pool collapsed because of former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron’s risky investment strategy. Among the losers were schools, cities and special districts that had money invested in the pool.

Mittermeier said the county still faces several hurdles. Among them is getting individual cities, schools and special districts to sign an agreement that can be filed in Bankruptcy Court by May.

To pay off its creditors, the county also is expected to borrow heavily against the new revenue streams and to mortgage nearly all of the county government’s buildings.

“One of the major keys is for the county is to be able to live within their constrained revenues,” Mittermeier said. “I think the financial market will be looking--especially at this year, and at the next several years--to see what the board does with its budget.

“I think we have to stick to that budget no matter what it takes,” Mittermeier concluded.