‘Lean’ Budget Increases County Jobs to ’78 Level

Proposition 13, that property tax-cutting scourge of local government, may not be dead.

But seven years after its passage, the County of San Diego has finally managed to claw and scratch and find enough money to hire the same number of employees it had in 1978, when California voters decided to slash their taxes, and thus their government.

Next year--Congress, the state Legislature and the Board of Supervisors willing--the county will employ the full-time equivalent of 12,008 people, a number last reached in 1978.

But according to a record-high $934-million budget proposal unveiled Monday by Chief Administrative Officer Clifford Graves, those people will be doing vastly different jobs than were the 12,000-odd workers on the payroll before Howard Jarvis and Paul Gann did their thing.

In the intervening seven years, programs related to law enforcement have grown steadily while programs to provide other services have shrunk. The courts have 43% more employees than they did in 1977; the sheriff, 45% more. Social services programs have 13% fewer employees; community services such as parks and recreation, 21% fewer, and building and equipment maintenance services, 16% fewer.

Further, those 12,000 workers--600 more than in this year’s budget--will be serving 400,000 more county residents than were here in 1978, Graves said.

Graves, at a press conference Monday morning, made no attempt to hide his sense of relief that the Proposition-13 era of cut-and-trim, scrimp-and-save had come at least to a symbolic end with the renewed growth of the county payroll.

In a news release, Graves described his proposed budget as “lean and austere.” In person, Graves said the document represents a “hold-the-line” approach, a “no frills” package, despite the fact that it calls for spending $47 million more than was available this fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The 674-page proposal, which county supervisors will consider beginning next month, was put together with the idea of maintaining funding for current programs and services, Graves said.

Beyond that, Graves found $400,000 for an expanded affirmative action plan that, he said, would increase the number of women and minorities at the highest levels of the county work force.

He also earmarked about $1.2 million to provide general relief-- the most basic form of assistance --to the homeless by ending the requirement that applicants be permanent county residents.

Graves allocated another $2.5 million to step up the investigation and prosecution of child abuse complaints by the Department of Social Services, the Sheriff’s Department and the district attorney.

More funds also will be committed to what the county calls its “infrastructure”--buildings, equipment, cars and computers--which, Graves said, has been neglected for several years in favor of more direct county services.

“The county has dug a hole for itself, and it takes a while to dig out,” Graves said. “The backlog is so large that it would be literally impossible to get out in one year.”

Not everything on the county’s wish list made its way into Graves’ proposed budget. He said he trimmed about $65 million from the budgets the county’s two dozen department heads submitted to him.

“We’re trying to keep the county away from a billion-dollar budget as long as possible,” Graves said, smiling. “Next year, we may hit it.”

Among the notable proposals not included in Graves’ budget are those for a system of freeway call boxes, additional office space and staff members for the county’s judges, and booking facilities for the regional jails in Chula Vista and El Cajon.

About 65 private agencies that have received money through the federal revenue sharing program are slated to receive money through the end of 1985, when the final $3 million expected from the program will be spent. Sometime this summer, Graves said, the supervisors will decide which of those health and social services are worth saving and which county programs could be cut to provide the needed money.

Because the bulk of the county’s money comes from the state and federal governments, the Board of Supervisors has little say in how it is spent.

Overall, more than one-third of the $934 million in Graves’ budget would be spent on social services such as welfare, food stamps and the foster parent program.

One-fifth of Graves’ budget is slated for criminal justice programs and for what he called “fiscal protection”--the auditor, assessor, and recorder’s offices. The next-largest share--13.2%--would go for health services.

Of the $325 million that the county is more or less free to spend as it chooses, the bulk (43.5%) would go toward criminal justice and fiscal protection. The next-largest amount would go to the county’s administration, then to its reserves, social services and health services.