Hurting Programs Get Help From Board

Taking advantage of a robust economy and a healthy budget, the Board of Supervisors tentatively allocated thousands of dollars Wednesday to programs that were cut in the wake of Orange County’s 1994 bankruptcy.

On the final day of budget hearings, the board voted to allocate $75,000 for community and social programs run by nonprofit groups, $50,000 for medical care for indigents and $250,000 for the communicable-disease program at UC Irvine.

The board also earmarked $200,000 for the county’s drug court probation program, which allows addicts to receive counseling instead of serving jail time for drug offenses.

Board members agreed that there was enough money available in the $3.6-billion budget to fund the programs.

“All in all, we met our strategic plan. We reduced the debt, we have money for capital projects, and we are doing deferred maintenance,” Supervisor Todd Spitzer said. “We were able to give some attention to badly needed programs, but we are not back to business as usual.”

The priority is still reducing the county’s $800-million debt from the fiscal collapse. Earlier this week, the board voted to set aside about $200 million of the $437 million the county is receiving in a settlement with Merrill Lynch to reduce the county’s bankruptcy-related debt.

The board also agreed this week to spend money on jail construction, to hire more marshals to patrol the courthouse and more sheriff’s deputies for the jail. And the Veterans Services program was restored to its pre-bankruptcy status with an allocation of $260,000 and six staff positions.

A final vote on the entire budget for the coming fiscal year is scheduled for June 30.