County Budget Boosts Services, Work Force

The release of Los Angeles County’s proposed 2000-01 budget involved a bit of PR judo Monday, as the union representing the majority of county workers said that the rosy budget picture means employees should be paid more.

At a news conference during which he quipped that more union officials seemed to be in attendance than reporters, Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen unveiled a $15-billion budget that, fueled by rising tax revenues from the expanding economy, pumps more money into social programs, adds 1,700 county employees and shores up crumbling senior centers and county buildings.

In his typically cautious style, Janssen declared: “The county’s health is good. It’s not great.” Certainly, he added, the county’s $48-million surplus pales in comparison to the state government’s multibillion-dollar surplus.

Janssen would not comment on the union demands, saying, “That’s what negotiations are for,” but he noted that the Board of Supervisors has been reluctant to commit to long-term expenditures because the county’s health department can balance its books only with a $1-billion waiver of federal Medicaid rules. That waiver expires June 30 and county officials are encountering unexpected problems in winning an extension.

Minutes later, officials from the Service Employees International Union Local 660, which represents 45,000 county employees, held their own news conference to unveil a study they commissioned comparing Los Angeles County employees’ wages to salaries of comparable government workers elsewhere. The study found county workers lagging by 10% to 20%.

The general manager of the union local, Annelle Grajeda, said county workers have seen their pay whittled by inflation and have yet to see a decent raise since the recession ended. Citing supervisors’ support for the ongoing janitors’ strike, Grajeda called on the board to step in, saying Janssen’s budget “doesn’t do anything to close the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us.”

Grajeda also scoffed at the county’s position that it could not afford raises greater than the 9% over three years it has offered its workers. “This is now a $15-billion budget,” Grajeda said. “They can find the money for wages in this budget. It’s a question of priorities.”

As laid out in the proposed budget, the county’s priorities include:

* Boosting social programs such as welfare, children’s services and mental health by providing more than $100 million in new money for those three departments alone, with most coming from the federal and state governments rather than county coffers.

* Using $13 million of the county surplus to replace old county vehicles and upgrade the Museum of Natural History and senior service centers.

* Spending $10.1 million to enroll uninsured children in the state’s Healthy Families program, which provides free health care.

* $1 million for staff training.

* $30 million to wean the county off its use of excess earnings from its pension fund to balance its books.

Supervisors praised the proposed budget for its caution. “Right now is the easiest time to spend money, because you have it,” Supervisor Don Knabe said. But, alluding to the county’s problems getting the health care waiver renewed, he added, “We have to be extremely careful as to how we spend money in the future.”

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky also stressed the county’s caution. And Yaroslavsky, a vocal supporter of the striking janitors, said the county’s proposed pay raise is fair. “This is real money in the pockets of county employees.”

Saying she did not want to discuss ongoing negotiations, Supervisor Gloria Molina warned: “This is a lot of one-time money, so we have to be cautious as to how we approach this.”

The Board of Supervisors in late June will make a final decision on the budget, which takes effect for the year beginning July 1. There will be inevitable changes before then, most notably regarding the way the county will pay for its role in dealing with the Rampart scandal.

The county does not anticipate any liability in the expected flurry of lawsuits over alleged LAPD brutality and framing of innocent people, expected to cost the city of Los Angeles more than $125 million. Instead, the district attorney, public defender and alternate public defender’s offices are asking that the county replace the lawyers that have been pulled from their regular duties to deal with Rampart. So far, the projected cost is $6 million.

An occasion for high drama in the days when the county was always a few million dollars away from bankruptcy, the release of the county budget has become a less anticipated affair during the current economic expansion, which has infused local governments with a wash of tax revenues.

Next year’s proposed budget is actually $220 million smaller than the current one, but that is due to technical accounting changes rather than a reduction in available money. The county, which is largely funded through state and federal grants, actually will have $324 million extra on hand in the coming year and calls for more than 91,000 county employees, pushing the work force to levels not seen since the layoffs of 1995.

Janssen said the growth of the budget has slowed as the improving economy has meant fewer inmates in county jails and fewer child abuse cases for county social workers--good news, he stressed.

The one piece of bad news continues to be the county’s health department, which could only balance its books this year with $200 million of one-time money and $255 million from the federal waiver. The persistent deficit in the department is what almost bankrupted the county in 1995, and the county is pushing to extend its waiver, which expires June 30, for another five years to keep the department afloat. Though the county had expected a decision by April, officials now predict federal officials will not finalize the waiver until June.

The proposed budget assumes the waiver will be extended.

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Proposed L.A. County Budget

Here is a look at the proposed $15-billion Los Angeles County budget for 2000-01, released Monday.

Highlights

* $76 million to hire 562 welfare caseworkers.

* $39 million to create mental health programs for children, substance abusers and the homeless.

* $4.1 million to prevent medical errors in county health facilities and hospitals.

* $3.1 million to strengthen the child support unit of the district attorney’s office.

* $200,000 to handle stray and dangerous animals in unincorporated county areas.

Where the money would go

Public assistance: 33%

Health and sanitation: 24%

Public protection: 24%

Administrative government services: 9%

Recreation and cultural programs: 4%

Other: 6%

Source: Los Angeles County