County Cuts 44 Jobs in Face of Spending Gap

Ventura County supervisors agreed Tuesday to cut 44 vacant positions from county government’s payroll--and warned that this time the jobs are gone for good.

The action shaves nearly $4 million from a $20-million shortfall projected for the county’s 2002-03 budget. County Executive Officer Johnny Johnston called the cuts a “measured step” that will be followed by others.

Even tougher belt-tightening is expected later this year, he said, as the county deals with higher payroll costs and declining state funding.

“There are another 160 positions potentially that have to be eliminated unless we find more revenue,” Johnston told supervisors and county managers.

Breaking from earlier tradition, supervisors agreed to permanently delete the vacant positions from the county’s $1.1-billion budget. Department managers have resisted giving up the unfilled positions in the past because they used the money to cushion agency budgets.

Supervisors have criticized that practice as “phantom” budgeting and asked Johnston to submit a fiscal plan that reflects the county’s true work force.

The county government currently has about 7,200 employees, making it one of Ventura County’s largest employers.

Johnston said his budget analysts will find additional areas where costs can be trimmed and distribute those targets to department managers in coming weeks. The goal is to have a balanced budget by July 1, when the county begins a new fiscal year.

A lot will depend on what state lawmakers decide to do with California’s budget hole. Gov. Gray Davis and legislators are grappling with a $12-billion shortfall brought on by the slowing economy.

“We do have a challenge before us,” Johnston said. “We do not raise our own money. We depend on the state.”

Most of the vacant slots will come out of the county’s public safety departments. Of the 44 positions cut, 24 come out of the probation, sheriff’s and district attorney’s offices.

Salary Increases Put Pressure on Budgets

At the Probation Agency, which is eliminating 16 jobs, Chief Cal Remington said he will make do with his remaining staff of 404. But he warned that work-furlough and juvenile-detention programs could be cut if further reductions are ordered.

Probation was hit hard because Remington, like other managers, was asked to absorb the cost of a 7.5% salary increase negotiated this year for probation officers. Salary and benefit hikes granted to many of the county’s employees this year are a major factor in the projected shortfall, county leaders say.

Likewise, cuts in Sheriff Bob Brooks’ department may be greater later this year after deputies settle a labor contract. For now, Brooks is eliminating four deputy positions in the jail, a reduction that has slowed the transfer of inmates to court appearances.

However, the sheriff was able to increase department revenues by $400,000 by agreeing to house parolees in Ventura County facilities, forestalling further cuts.

“This is what we anticipated,” Brooks said. “What everyone is really worried about is what comes next.”