Supervisors OK $176 Million in Budget Cuts : County: First round of reductions does not include employee pay suspension plan.

The fiscal bloodletting in Los Angeles County government began Wednesday as the Board of Supervisors approved $176 million in budget cuts, the first stage of an expected $700 million in rollbacks.

Most of the savings approved Wednesday will come from a hiring freeze, an early retirement program, a halt to most equipment purchases and some capital improvement projects, and a variety of payroll reductions.

The board stopped short of approving a controversial “pay suspension program” that would force most employees to work two days each month without pay. Still, a majority of board members agreed Wednesday that most of the county’s 86,000 workers will eventually have to accept significant salary reductions.

“I just believe firmly that people are going to have to give up something,” said liberal Supervisor Gloria Molina, who joined conservative colleagues Deane Dana and Michael Antonovich in calling for quick action on wage cuts. “There are going to be salary cuts no matter which way you look at it.”

The board delayed action on several programs that face elimination under the budget proposed by Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon, including the sheriff’s Air Five mountain rescue team and youth camps run by the Probation Department.

The endangered programs will be allowed to operate at least until the board resumes its budget hearings Sept. 15.

During four hours of often tense budget deliberations Wednesday, the supervisors debated the future of a variety of threatened programs. They reviewed the cost of new fire engines, computer equipment for the Sheriff’s Department and the rate of pay for private attorneys who defend the county in civil litigation.

Eventually, the board agreed to suspend cost-of-living increases to employees who work for private agencies contracting with the county. They also voted to suspend all but the most essential capital improvements and equipment purchases. Travel expenditures will also be severely limited.

The early retirement program is expected to save the county $24.1 million. Canceling capital improvements at a host of public health clinics, sheriff’s stations, parks and other facilities will save about $7 million.

By instituting the hiring freeze, the county will save $38 million. Exempt from the hiring freeze will be those jobs deemed critical for health and safety needs, including positions in hospital emergency services, firefighting and law enforcement.

In its only move to increase revenues, the board voted to increase daily use fees at county golf courses from $17.50 to $20.50. The move will raise more than $1 million.

The board is expected to approve dramatic cuts in a variety of county services when it resumes its budget deliberations.

“This is just the admittance to the emergency room,” Antonovich said of Wednesday’s deliberations. “The surgery is on Sept. 15.”

Final action on the budget was delayed in hopes that state legislators will overcome an impasse and adopt a final budget. Until that happens, county officials will be uncertain of how much state funding they will receive.

Union representatives applauded the board for postponing immediate action on the pay suspension program, which would cut $250.7 million from the county budget.

Rather than adopting the controversial plan, the board instructed Dixon to meet with county department chiefs and union leaders to come up with alternative savings programs in each branch of county government.

Among the proposals county and union officials will consider are plans to eliminate most overtime payments and all paid holidays. Such proposals could save at least $115 million.

“The board’s actions should give every taxpayer and employee encouragement and pause for relief,” said Paul Pfau, president of the Assn. of the Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorneys. “They have taken an utterly responsible course in taking information from all sources and trying to resolve this fiscal problem.”

Phil Ansell of the Service Employees International Union Local 535 said he was not yet convinced that drastic salary cuts would be necessary.

“The county has to have a balanced budget and we’ll see where we stand when the state budget comes in,” he said.

In an unrelated action, the board voted 3 to 2 to remove a proposed November ballot measure that would have expanded the board from five to seven members.

Supervisor Ed Edelman said the action was necessary because the U.S. Department of Justice had raised questions about the plan’s effect on Latino representation, suggesting it could violate the Voting Rights Act.

A ballot measure to create the position of an elected county executive will remain on the ballot, as will a measure to expand the board to nine members, pending approval by the Justice Department.

Times staff writer Amy Pyle contributed to this report.