County Budget Plan Shares the Wealth

Orange County officials on Tuesday released a proposed $3.6-billion budget for the 1999 fiscal year that pumps up spending in some departments--and doesn’t cut programs elsewhere.

The budget blueprint includes plans to hire more Sheriff’s Department employees, court marshals and social services employees and expand the Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange.

And for the first time since the 1994 financial fiasco, the budget would give county departments money to spend on maintenance.

The county also will save nearly $24 million from the state’s decision to absorb most of the expense of running the trial courts. Counties previously had contributed to the court system’s operating costs.

The budget is $223 million less than the current year’s, but that comes from reduced demands on county funding, not from cuts in any programs. The transfer of 1,553 court positions to the state, for instance, accounts for $138 million of the difference. Reductions in welfare rolls and capital spending account for the rest.

“With the state taking over the courts, it does take a step toward resolving some of the funding problems for local government,” said Gary Burton, the county’s chief financial officer. “This has taken the burden off of our general fund and allowed us to address our many pent-up needs.”

The budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 will be presented to the public June 8 at the Hall of Administration.

“The focus in this budget is on services,” Burton said. “There are some increases in staff, but that is mainly for the jail expansion and marshals, the areas that the board has told us are priorities.”

The county also benefits from a booming economy that has provided a 5.9% increase in revenue mainly from property, sales and auto taxes, officials said. That adds $16 million to the county’s coffers.

The budget sets aside $5 million as a payment toward the $800-million bankruptcy debt. Hoping to ward off another fiscal calamity and to prepare in case of an economic downturn, the budget proposes setting aside $16 million as a cushion.

Reducing the county’s bankruptcy debt has caused some difficult decisions to be made between spending money to lower the debt or financing long-neglected projects, such as maintenance of aging elevators and expansion of cramped courthouses.

This year’s budget, Burton said, is a compromise, addressing the debt issue without neglecting the county’s deferred maintenance projects.

“We have shown a lot of discipline,” he said. “It wasn’t easy.”

The proposed budget calls for hiring 19 deputy marshals to enhance security in Superior and Municipal courts. The cost of those positions will be refunded by the state, officials said.

With the court savings, the county will begin design and construction of the second phase of the Theo Lacy jail expansion. The second phase is expected to cost $33.5 million.

The first phase, scheduled to be completed next year, will add 384 beds and 131 more sheriff’s employees to operate the facility.

Theo Lacy expansion plans have been on the table for years but never completed because of budget shortages. Sheriff’s officials have complained that the overcrowded conditions have forced them to release prisoners early.

The county’s Health Care Agency would receive a $15-million increase, the vast majority of which comes from state funding and federal grants. However, the county has kicked in about $1.1 million, or 4% more, the highest amount since the bankruptcy, officials said.

That money would be used to hire four new employees to ease the current workload.

The proposed budget also provides for 87 new positions in the Social Services Department. Of those, 73 would go to the Orangewood Children’s Home to meet a state-mandated ratio of one staff person for every three children.

The budget sets aside $9.4 million for the continued planning of the commercial airport at El Toro. The amount is less than half last year’s $20-million appropriation, which was spent for ongoing consulting work.

The proposed budget would pay for five new positions through December 1999.

Funds for El Toro planning come from revenue generated by John Wayne Airport, not from the general fund, officials said.

“This is just a huge project,” said Courtney Wiercioch, who heads the county’s El Toro planning program. “We want to make sure that we have the resources we need.”

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Budget Preview

Fewer demands for county funding--welfare roll and capital budget reductions along with transfer of more than 1,500 court positions to the state--resulted in a proposed 1998-99 county budget that is $223 million less than the current one. No cuts were made. Here’s how the proposed budget is divided and how program areas are changed:

Proposed Budget Division

Debt service: 20.2%

Public protection: 18.8%

Environmental resources: 15.7%

Community & social services: 15.0%

Insurance, reserves, misc.: 9.4%

Health services: 8.0%

General government & services: 7.8%

Capital improvements: 5.1%

*

Change from 1997-98 (in millions)

Public protection: $9.4

Health services: $15.6

Community & social services: $4.0

Environmental resources: $-100.4

General government & services: $-0.5

Capital improvements: $-15.6

Debt service : $-51.1

Insurance, reserves, misc.: $-84.4

Source: Orange County