County’s Spending Outlook Eases a Bit, but Crunch Lingers

With Orange County budget hearings opening today, officials’ worst nightmares apparently have been averted, even though the financial outlook is still the grimmest in years.

County officials figure that they still must lay off more than 100 employees and lose about 100 other positions that are vacant. But only a month ago, officials had estimated that they would lose a total of about 300 jobs.

At one point last spring, county officials predicted an average countywide budget reduction of 12% to 16%. Now, that figure appears to be 4% or 5%, Richard L. Pickryl, programs manager in the county administrative office, said Tuesday.

“Considering what we’ve been through in the last three or four months . . . we’re in pretty good shape,” Pickryl said. “But everybody across the board has taken a kick, everybody is hurting. There isn’t anyone who remains whole.”

The Board of Supervisors tentatively approved a $1.7-billion budget last month for the fiscal year that began July 1. Final approval is expected in August after the board hears requests from department representatives for more money.

County officials learned of their unexpected revenues over the last few weeks. First, the state Legislature approved more money for Orange County than had been expected. Then, final calculations of last year’s budget showed some unexpected money left over.

But the most significant adjustment to the budget was the supervisors’ decision two weeks ago to pay for part of the costly new jail construction with $15 million that had been in a fund to manage county landfills.

That is expected to force a dumping-fee increase for trash haulers in 1989, rather than in 1990 as planned. The increase eventually will be passed on to residents, whose typical monthly garbage bill of $6 to $7 would increase by about 50 cents, county officials said.

Paying for the jail is still a major challenge. On Thursday, supervisors are scheduled to decide when they will ask voters to authorize a property-tax increase to finance an estimated $249 million in bonds for the first phase of construction.

The Social Services Agency was the biggest benefactor of the unexpected revenue. The initial budget would have jeopardized some of its programs and meant more than layoffs.

But Gov. George Deukmejian recently approved an allocation of about $1 million for the county’s Orangewood emergency shelter for children, which had never received state funding. And the agency will get about $300,000 more than expected from the state for clerical workers and computer equipment, according to Robert A. Griffith, chief deputy director of the agency.

“The net result this year was very positive,” Griffith said of the state money. “Our particular situation looks better than it has in the last three months.”

Griffith said the agency no longer expects to lay anyone off, although seven employees were let go last month because of a reduction in the agency’s workload, not budget problems.

In the hearings today, the Social Services Agency will ask for about $50,000 more so that it can continue to operate its adoption center and day-care licensing program. If that money isn’t approved, Griffith said, the county immediately will begin shifting both of those jobs to the state.

The two departments that still seem to be suffering the most are Health Care and Probation.

Health Care is about $1.4-million short of its needs and expects to lose about 40 positions, about half of which are filled. It also plans to terminate several programs.

“Definitely it would be a reduction in services,” said Carol Kaiser, director of administration for the department. “We still have hope . . . nothing is definite.”

If the department doesn’t get more money, Kaiser said, it will close the Garden Grove Mental Health Clinic, affecting about 150 patients and more than 30 employees.

Programs in Jeopardy

Some of the other programs in jeopardy are dental care for indigents and children; an animal wildlife control team; the family planning clinic; statistical reviews of disease outbreaks and the monitoring of drug-abuse centers.

“Some of these people will not find a replacement service,” Kaiser said.

In the Probation Department, officials expect to lose 72 jobs, half of which are filled. Earlier however, the department expected to lose up to 96 jobs.

“In the short run, our response to the court will have to be one of reduced effort because we won’t be able to hire any additional probation officers,” Michael Schumacher, chief probation officer, said. “When we get to a point where it is not possible to do that any longer, we will just advise the court we cannot do the work.”

Schumacher said that Orange County probation officers are handling up to 110 cases each. But he conceded that that workload is not exceptional, compared to other counties.

The cutbacks also would affect two Probation Department programs that are aimed at reducing the need for jail space. The in-home incarceration, in which prisoners are confined to their homes and electronically monitored, would be eliminated. The work-furlough program, which allows prisoners to work during the day and return to jail at night, would be cut 35%.

For the most part, the county has tried to spare public saety departments from the most severe budget cuts. As a result, the sheriff, district attorney and public defender each were granted staff increases by County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish. His recommendations still must be approved by the supervisors.

More From Defendants

In the public defender’s office, however, Parrish ordered that the 11 new positions be paid for with a more aggressive policy of seeking money from defendants. Those defendants assigned to a public defender because they cannot afford private counsel still may be ordered to pay a portion of the defense cost, as determined by a judge.

Last year, the public defender collected $219,000 from defendants. This year, that amount will have to be nearly doubled to pay for six new attorneys and five support staff members.

“Whether we can undertake this . . . is ambitious,” Chief Deputy Public Defender Carl C. Holmes said. “It’s a big question mark.”

If the office does not raise enough money, it will exceed its budget, Holmes said. The pay-back arrangement still must be approved by the supervisors.

Parrish also has recommended 14 new positions, including nine attorneys, for the district attorney’s office, which cited a 47% increase in its felony caseload over the last two years.

“They’re just squeezing us,” said Bill Morison, administrative services officer for the district attorney. “We’re just going to have to see; we may be in trouble by next spring.”

Because of the tight budget situation, the county clerk’s office fended off any cutbacks by making the jump to a self-sufficient office, independent of the county general fund for the first time. The change was made by increasing the filing fee for civil court cases to $123 from $113.

“We saw this coming and we started getting this together,” County Clerk Gary Granville said.