BUDGET AX TO FALL ON SERVICES FOR POOR.

Byline: - Cecilia Chan

Health and social services programs in Ventura County would be the biggest losers under the governor's proposed spending plan, officials said Wednesday.

The county, already wrestling with closing a projected $17.6 million deficit in next fiscal year's $1 billion budget, stands to lose $26 million in state funds, and might have to cut at least 90 more full-time jobs.

``It's a significant impact on services,'' said Deputy County Executive Officer Bert Bigler. ``The services we're talking about, the majority of them are for the poor and uninsured.''

Gov. Gray Davis earlier this month released a plan that called for tax hikes and $7.6 billion in cuts to fill an estimated $23.6 billion state budget gap for 2002-03.

Bigler said that amounts to up to $1.5 billion in cuts to counties statewide.

In Ventura County, the biggest blow would be an estimated $9.9 million in cuts each to the Health Care Agency and the Human Services Agency.

The county might need to cut 54 jobs from the HSA, 36 from public safety and others from the HCA to handle the state cuts, according to an analysis released this week.

The county is already facing a $17 million shortfall in its budget for 2002-03 due to the economic downturn, increased costs in public safety and salary hikes for 4,200 county workers, officials said.

Already, the county eliminated 44 vacant full-time positions in February to cut its costs.

``It is dire,'' county Supervisor Frank Schillo said. ``It's really bad because the problem is, when the state takes money away from behavioral health, Medicare and Medicaid, we use that money as leverage for federal funds,'' he said. ``Because we don't have state funds, we won't get federal funds.''

Schillo said last week he lobbied Assemblyman Keith Richmond, R-Granada Hills, a member of the Assembly budget committee, to help relieve the county of the state mandate to provide the same level of services when funding has been cut.

Bigler said the governor's proposed financial cuts are comparable to the property tax shift that began in the early 1990s when the state started taking away those tax revenues from counties.

``The dollar magnitude is similar,'' he said.

``The county is not saying, don't cut us at all,'' Bigler said. ``Everyone recognizes the magnitude of the state deficit has got to be shared for the state to solve the problem.''

The county's preliminary budget will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on June 4. A final budget hearing is set for June 17.