More Health Agency Cuts Expected

Health services for Ventura County’s poorest residents could be slashed again as officials look for ways to trim $8 million more from county government’s budget.

The Board of Supervisors in June cut $17 million from the county’s $1.2-billion budget, with health and social service programs taking the biggest hits.

But more cuts are looming because of the state’s continuing financial problems and limited local revenue, officials warn. Ventura County’s tax base expanded for several years but that has begun to slow, said Bert Bigler, a senior budget analyst in the chief executive’s office.

“This is going to be a continuing process as we finish out this fiscal year,” Bigler said.

County executive Johnny Johnston will outline the projected funding shortfall at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting. The budget session will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the supervisors’ boardroom at the Hall of Administration in Ventura.

Supervisors in June slashed 140 vacant positions from the county’s 7,900-employee work force. Health-care cuts were also ordered to eliminate a $17-million funding gap for fiscal 2002-03, which began July 1.

The county’s Health Care Agency is facing the biggest loss at close to $10 million. But supervisors last month agreed to divert $6.2 million in tobacco settlement funds to offset some of those losses.

The latest cutbacks are the result of continuing shortfalls in funding for mental health services and increased demand for foster care and counseling programs, officials said.

Larry Johnson, chairman of the county’s Mental Health Advisory Board, said supervisors should consider dipping into a tobacco settlement reserve account before cutting any services. That fund has $16.1 million in it, but executives have advocated leaving it alone for now.

Johnson said he understands the bind the county is in. But reducing programs for the mentally ill may not be a wise financial decision, he said.

“They are dependent on the services, because they are ill. For many of them, that means they are unemployed,” Johnson said. “The danger is that it will be harder for them to get services, especially if the county closes clinics. Then they are left to their own devices, and it just gets worse.”

There are those who question whether the county’s financial position is as tough as budget officials portray. If the county is in such dire straits, supervisors should not have recently approved the purchase of a $12.7-million payroll system, said Barry Hammitt, head of Service Employees International Union Local 998, the county’s largest labor group.

He also noted that the administrative headquarters for the county’s social services agency is undergoing a major renovation. “When people see stuff like that, they don’t get the impression that there’s a crisis afoot,” Hammitt said.