County Keeps Budget Options Open

Despite heated opposition, Ventura County supervisors said Tuesday they may tap into tobacco settlement dollars and warned public safety managers that their budgets may be further trimmed if cuts in state funding prove as catastrophic as feared.

Supervisors said they must consider those drastic steps as they await the outcome of negotiations over the state’s own bleak financial picture.

Ventura County government stands to lose up to $26 million in state funding, reductions that would close health clinics and gut other services unless stopgap funding is identified, officials said.

Those cuts would come on top of $17.6 million in reductions that supervisors approved Tuesday in adopting a $1.2-billion 2002-03 budget. The spending plan calls for nearly all county departments to shave jobs and services, including a $3-million loss in mental health services for the poor.

Up to 10 county employees may be laid off, but so far only two have received notices, county officials said. About 140 vacant positions have been eliminated.

Just four departments, all involved in public safety, will see their budgets increase this year--the Sheriff’s Department, district attorney’s office, probation department and public defender’s office. Supervisors approved a 2.1% increase for those departments while other agencies will see an average 4.2% decrease.

A majority of supervisors, however, agreed to consider cutbacks for the public safety departments later this year if the state cuts are especially onerous. Supervisors John Flynn and Kathy Long agreed with the proposal by Supervisor Steve Bennett, saying it makes good fiscal sense.

Although the public safety departments receive protected funding under a local ordinance, Bennett contends that they received more money in the current fiscal year than they were entitled to. Under his resolution, the four agencies may be required to return that overpayment, estimated at $4.4 million.

“We have to identify all the areas where we have potential flexibility and it’s appropriate to do that at this time,” Bennett said.

Supervisor Judy Mikels voted against the proposal, saying it would set a precedent of taking away money that has already been budgeted and spent.

“You can’t go back a year later and say, ‘Whoops--we shouldn’t have given you that money,’ ” Mikels said.

Supervisor Frank Schillo, a law enforcement ally, was absent.

Sheriff Bob Brooks told supervisors that Ventura County residents have made clear that public safety is their top priority. Reducing public safety budgets will send the wrong message, the sheriff said after the vote.

“We’ve already made our department as lean as we can,” Brooks said. “So this would mean serious service reductions.”

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said his office would analyze the board’s action to determine whether it violates the intent of the local law that protects public safety dollars.

Bradbury also questioned whether the board acted too hastily in approving the resolution. Bennett unveiled his proposal for the first time Thursday.

“It is always unwise to do this knee-jerk reaction to some proposal that is not even very well thought out,” Bradbury said. “The board needs to keep in mind that they represent the people and they are supposed to reflect the people’s will. And you would think they would at least want to ask the people about this.”

The proposed use of tobacco settlement funds to cover revenue shortfalls also encountered opposition. Representatives of two citizen advisory committees urged supervisors to dip into the $10.3 million available in 2002-03 only as a last resort.

Both committees recommended that supervisors use the tobacco money to continue health-care programs the county created last year. They range from dental clinics for poor youths to payments for private hospitals that provide care for the uninsured.

“I urge you not to eat your seed corn,” said Steven Arvizu, chairman of a financial oversight committee for the tobacco dollars, “and not to see [this money] as a panacea to solve county budget problems.”

But supervisors unanimously agreed that they may have no choice but to dip into the funds. The board agreed to put off any further funding decisions until the state passes its own budget, possibly by the end of summer.