Delays This Year May Force Tougher Cuts in ’96 : Budget: The county reduced spending by $19 million, but could still face deep program and employee reductions next time around.

Although Ventura County leaders managed to close a $19-million spending gap this week, they will face a similar size deficit next year because they chose to delay some tough budget-cutting decisions, officials said Friday.

“This year we got a taste of what cuts really mean,” Supervisor Frank Schillo said. “Next time it’s going to be harder.”

Schillo said the county has cut only half of its $38-million deficit and must cut another $19 million next year.

The only way the county can do that is to continue to reduce the size of its work force, currently about 7,000 employees, he said.

“If 80% of our costs are salaries, then we have to downsize,” he said.

Indeed, despite tens of millions of dollars in budget cuts and lost revenues over the past five years, the number of county employees has remained roughly the same.

Schillo, who was elected supervisor in November, said he has a hard time explaining to the public how the board can cut $19 million in expenditures and lose just 37 positions, about half of which are filled. Those employees whose jobs were eliminated are expected to transfer into other departments with vacant positions.

“I’m a financial consultant,” Schillo said, “and I’m still having a hard time understanding it.”

The fact is that the board cut expenditures by only $6 million, while using $8 million in one-time money and another $5 million in higher-than-expected property tax, sales tax and other revenues to make up its $19-million shortfall.

The increased revenues and absence of any major state cutbacks allowed the county to avoid deep program cuts, but that may not be so next year, Schillo said.

If not, the county could be looking at $14 million or more in actual department cuts in fiscal 1996-97, he said.

But Supervisor John Flynn said the county has already seen an increase in property values in the past few months, and he expects other tax revenues to continue to grow as the economy improves.

“This will help us get a better handle on our problems,” he said.

Flynn said the reason the number of county employees has not been reduced more over the years is because the vast majority deliver services mandated by the state. He also said the number of public safety employees has increased because of the opening of the new Todd Road Jail.

Still, Flynn agreed with Schillo that management and personnel in some county departments can and should be reduced. He said he has asked Chief Administrator Lin Koester to take a close look at the mental health and social service agencies to see if they can operate more efficiently.

Flynn and Schillo also agreed that the county’s budget process needs to be overhauled so that it paints a more accurate picture of the county’s financial condition.

For one thing, Schillo said, the county should not allow department heads to collect money for vacant positions. He said there are about 350 unfilled positions countywide, which he said accounts for millions of dollars in unnecessary expenditures.

“That should never happen,” Schillo said.

Also, a department’s excess earnings or savings--known as fund balance--should automatically be factored in when calculating the county’s deficit, Schillo said.

Bert Bigler, county budget director, said the county used $8 million in fund balance to reduce its deficit this year. Although the amount of fund balance varies each year, he said, the county can count on receiving at least $8 million annually to help reduce its deficit.

Bigler said the fund balance, along with increased revenues, has allowed the county to spread out budget cuts over the years, sparing some departments from massive layoffs.

He said this year was no different.

“Hopefully, revenues will continue to go up so we won’t have to have hard cuts next year,” he said.

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County Goverment Work Force

This chart shows the number of jobs actually lost and gained by different county departments in the last four years. The list includes selected departments in the county’s General Fund, which pays for police, court, health, welfare and other basic government services. Special funds have been set up to pay for fire, library, water and flood control services.

GENERAL GOVERNMENT

FY ‘92-93 FY ‘93-94 FY ‘94-95 FY ‘95-96 Assessor 129 113 96 106 Auditor 77 73 72 72 Chief Admin. 36 31 29 26 Board of Supes. 25 25 25 25 County Counsel 35 34 33 32

PUBLIC PROTECTION

FY ‘92-93 FY ‘93-94 FY ‘94-95 FY ‘95-96 Sheriff (police) 627 624 620 627 Sheriff (jail) 335 310 555 562 District Atty. 185 179 209 204 Public Defender 57 57 65 65 Corrections 317 291 347 346 Mun./Supr. Crt. 304 300 317 317 Animal Reg. 54 49 47 47

HEALTH AND SANITATION

FY ‘92-93 FY ‘93-94 FY ‘94-95 FY ‘95-96 Public Health 138 114 125 133 Mental Health 383 390 426 440 Health Care Admin. 34 10 9 3

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE

Welfare Maint. 491 532 534 532 Welfare Admin. 81 83 81 70 Childrens Services 144 142 145 173*

INTERNAL SERVICES

FY ‘92-93 FY ‘93-94 FY ‘94-95 FY ‘95-96 Info. Systems 140 142 143 132 Maint./Grounds 143 103 122 122 FY ‘92-93 FY ‘93-94 FY ‘94-95 FY ‘95-96 Total Gen. Fund 4,638 4,424 4,771 4,807 Total Special Funds 2,056 2,314 2,230 2,114 Grand Total 6,694 6,738 7,001 6,921

*Includes transfers from other departmental units.

Source: Chief Administrative Office