Sheriff Backs Cities’ Bid for Prop. 172 Funds : Finances: Carpenter says he wants to protect extra sales tax money from being raided by supervisors for non-law enforcement uses.

Sheriff Larry Carpenter has agreed to back the cities’ latest campaign to claim a share of Proposition 172 sales tax revenues, in an agreement that would give the sheriff and cities more money for local law enforcement.

The mayors of Ventura County’s 10 cities turned to Carpenter for support after twice failing to persuade the Board of Supervisors to use Proposition 172 revenues to pay for jail booking fees and subsidize municipal law enforcement.

The new proposal includes a request for funds to expand programs to curb domestic violence and teach schoolchildren and teen-agers about the dangers of drugs.

City leaders say improving those programs and eliminating the jail booking fees would free time and money for improved police protection in the cities.

“We’re hoping the addition of the sheriff’s support and these other programs will make a difference,” Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said. “It’s not just the cities anymore; it’s the cities and the sheriff.”

Carpenter said he decided to support the proposal after city leaders agreed to ask that the funds be funneled through the Sheriff’s Department before being distributed to city-run programs.

But Carpenter added that he is more concerned now with protecting Proposition 172 funds from being raided by the board as it seeks to salvage the county’s budget from state cuts and a sluggish economy.

“I support the effort of the cities because I certainly think it is an appropriate expenditure of funds,” Carpenter said. “The caveat I throw in is that the way things are going, there may not be any Proposition 172 funds for any of us.”

The cities are asking for up to 10% of the more than $29 million in sales tax revenue the county expects to collect in the 1994-95 fiscal year.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee said she was not swayed by the cities’ proposal and was surprised that Carpenter had agreed to support it.

“I cannot believe Carpenter is doing this,” she said. “Why does he want to give away money we don’t have to the cities that do have the money?”

In March, the board voted to spend $24 million of the special sales taxes to increase the number of sheriff’s deputies, prosecutors and public defenders. A portion of the funds will also be spent on the county jail.

Richard Wittenberg, the county’s chief administrative officer, recommends that the rest of the money be used to offset a $17-million deficit in the county budget.

The sheriff’s support of the cities’ plan was announced at a Tuesday meeting of the Assn. of Ventura County Cities.

The mayors of each of the 10 cities agreed to send a letter to the board informing them of Carpenter’s support and once again requesting those funds and outlining the new terms of the proposal.

In addition to asking for a repeal of a $120 processing fee charged for each inmate booked into county jails, the letter calls for additional funds for anti-drug DARE education programs and countywide Mental Health Emergency teams to help with domestic violence disputes.

Supervisor John K. Flynn said that although in theory he supports repeal of the booking fees and expansion of the programs cited by the mayors, he would be reluctant to use Proposition 172 funds to cover the costs.

“Expanding these programs would be a great benefit to the cities and the community at large,” Flynn said. “But we’ve got some serious budget problems, and I just don’t know if we can do it with Proposition 172 money.”

Ventura Mayor Tom Buford refused to be discouraged by the board’s lukewarm reception to the cities’ proposal.

“I don’t think any of us came into this with the idea that this is going to be easily accepted by the county,” Buford said. “If this idea doesn’t work, we’ll work twice as hard on the next one.”

Correspondent Phyllis Jordan contributed to this story.