Board to View $3.48-Billion Budget

The Board of Supervisors this morning gets its first formal look at a proposed budget for next year’s county government operations, but most members are already criticizing provisions to add personnel and restore programs trimmed during the financial crisis.

The $3.48-billion budget, unveiled less than two weeks after the county emerged from Bankruptcy Court protection, preserves most county services at their present levels and even calls for the hiring of 108 new workers--most of them at the Sheriff’s Department.

At least three supervisors have expressed concerns about the proposed staffing increases, however, as well as other budget items they consider too extravagant for a county still facing severe financial pressures.

Only 12 months ago, Orange County still was grappling with the effects of 500 layoffs, the need to eliminate more than 2,000 other county positions and slash the county’s general fund spending by 41%.

Earlier this month, the county paid off more than $1 billion in overdue debts to emerge from bankruptcy.

But wiping the slate clean came at a heavy price. The county borrowed $880 million on Wall Street that it will paying off over the next 30 years--most of the money coming from funds previously dedicated to road and flood control improvements, or the county’s harbors, beaches and parks. Next year’s installment will total $62 million.

“I don’t feel I can support a budget that has 100 new positions,” Supervisor William G. Steiner said. “The Board of Supervisors needs to send a message to the bureaucracy that if there is an additional need for manpower, they should look at prioritizing existing programs . . . and not automatically expanding the work force.”

“We can’t be spending money left and right,” Supervisor Marian Bergeson said. “Any increase in staffing needs to be looked at. There has to be a strong justification for it.”

Supervisor Don Saltarelli agreed, saying the county should make paying the massive debt its top priority and establish a special bond repayment account where it should deposit any surplus funds.

“Every $1 million we pay off early is interest we won’t have to pay for 30 years. It’s a huge amount,” Saltarelli said. “I’m very concerned about some of these increases in the budget. . . . I think we need a few more lean years.”

In addition to the new jobs, supervisors are questioning proposals to double the size of the travel budget to $1 million and increase the amount of money set aside to pay for worker overtime.

Board consideration of this preliminary budget marks the beginning of a summer-long process that will include public hearings in late August to assess how the funding plan would affect individual departments and services. The board is scheduled to adopt a final budget in September.

The proposed budget did not take into account the reorganization plan approved by the supervisors last week. That plan calls for the elimination of the General Services and Environmental Management agencies, shifting many of their responsibilities to other county departments. Officials expect the restructuring to save the county millions of dollars and possibly result in layoffs, but the reorganization won’t be complete until later this year.

Another wild card is the state’s budget, which should be adopted later this summer. The county is hoping for passage of a bill that would increase state funding to the county’s court system, which faced a $25-million shortfall this year. Without additional state funding, the county might have to pay more from local funding sources, or push for cutbacks.

“We still have a lot of unresolved issues,” Steiner said. “I don’t think this is a done deal yet.”

The $3.48-billion budget represents a 0.8%--or $28 million--spending increase over the $3.45-billion plan for 1995-96. It remains smaller, however, than the $3.7-billion budget adopted in 1994, just a few months before the county’s December bankruptcy filing.

The proposed budget is also bolstered by a $47-million surplus generated from county departments that spent less than this year’s budget allocated.

The biggest winner appears to be the Sheriff’s Department, which was largely shielded from bankruptcy-related cuts and would see its 1996-97 budget increase by 9.4% to $202,115,000.

The department’s budget would including funding for 66 new positions plus 33 deputy jobs that the Board of Supervisors approved earlier this year when it opened a dormant wing of the Theo Lacy Branch Jail.

Lt. Ron Wilkerson, the Sheriff’s Department spokesman, said the extra staffing would be distributed throughout the operations, and would allow for the restoration of programs cut because of the bankruptcy.

Six of the positions would go to the crime lab, which is experiencing a backlog in casework. Another eight would be used as part of a new effort to feed jail inmates surplus federal government food.

The Sheriff’s Department took a $4-million hit last March, but the county’s 1995-96 budget included a $6-million funding increase for the department.

Much of the proposed increase for 1996-97 is linked to rising revenue from Proposition 172, a voter-approved sales tax increase to benefit law enforcement. The Sheriff’s Department receives 80% of Proposition 172 revenue, which is earmarked for law enforcement purposes.

The district attorney’s office would see its budget increase by 8% to $59,765,000, including six new positions.

The public defender’s office would get 24 new positions, but officials said the increase is part of a plan to reduce the use of contract attorneys.

The budget, proposed by county Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier, also calls for a major increase in the contingency reserve, from $5 million to $12 million.

Other segments of the county do not fare as well under the budget plan. Spending for capital projects would drop by 9% to $20,788,000. Bergeson and others have expressed concerns about another apparent delay in funding for a South County courthouse project.

Domestic violence spending would drop by 12% to $487,000.

Another financially troubled area is the Probation Department, which would see a 5% budget cut to $57,369,000. The department had to cut its budget by 11% last year and also lost $11 million in federal grants.

Walt Krause, the department’s director of administrative and fiscal services, said most existing programs should continue under the budget, thanks in part to new state grants that partially closed the shortfall. But the larger issue of overcrowding at juvenile detention centers--which forced the early releases of some inmates--has yet to be fully addressed, he said.

Supervisors said they intend to scrutinize each proposed position and ask department heads if work can be done shifting personnel from other duties.

“The challenge in the private sector and now in county government is to make better use of the resources you have now,” Steiner said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Budget Outlook Orange County’s preliminary budget for fiscal year 1996-97 is a slight increase from the current budget. Here is the comparison, in billions of dollars:

1996-97: $3.48

Funding Changes

Although the proposed budget is an overall increase, not all departments will gain funding. Here’s are the largest increases/decreases in department and activity funding, in thousands:

*--*

1995-96 1996-97 % Change Getting more Contingency fund reserve $5,000 $12,000 140 Internal auditing 754 961 27 Sheriff’s Department 184,636 202,115 9 District attorney’s office 55,273 59,765 8 Getting less Capital projects 22,926 20,788 9 Marshal’s office 30,824 27,987 9 Clerk of the board 2,503 2,219 11 Domestic violence program 554 487 12 Professional consultants 11,200 6,088 45

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Staffing Differences

The preliminary 1995-96 county budget funds 15,437 jobs, an increase of more than 100 from 1995-96. Here is how the budget would affect staffing at key county departments: *--*

1995-96 1996-97 Difference Sheriff-Coroner 2,396 2,504 +108 Health Care Agency 2,128 2,138 +10 District attorney 766 772 +6 Probation 1,049 1,053 +4 Social Services Agency 2,795 2,795 Even Marshal 440 438 -2 Libraries 323 306 -17 Environmental Management 1,267 1,229 -38

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Source: County of Orange; Researched by SHELBY GRAD / For The Times