BUDGET MARKED BY NEW SPENDING; BOOM IN REAL ESTATE MARKET FAVORS VENTURA COUNTY COFFERS.

Byline: David Greenberg Daily News Staff Writer

With Ventura County's housing market on the upswing, officials anticipate a 5 percent increase in property tax revenue this fiscal year, helping fund the first budget this decade without staff and service cuts.

The county's real estate market recorded a 30 percent gain in single-family home sales during the first three months of 1998.

The market saw a 10.3 percent increase over the same period last year in median home prices - the point where half sold for more and half for less.

Houses have been selling for 96 percent to 98 percent of the asking prices, with some staying on the sales block for only a day or two, according to one Realtor.

The county received $78 million in property tax revenue this year and expects to receive nearly $4 million more as property values continue to rise. The additional money is part of a $47 million increase the county will enjoy in 1998-99, including $13 million carried over from the current fiscal year.

The revenue plan was part of a $918 million budget - which includes $571 million for the general fund - that was adopted late Monday by the Board of Supervisors after only one day of public hearings.

``It's much easier to deal with allocating resources for increases rather than the reverse - not having sufficient resources to meet the needs and requiring cuts,'' said Bert Bigler, an 18-year veteran of the Chief Administrative Office and its deputy chief.

County Assessor Glenn Gray said that currently property values are increasing all over the county.

``We follow the market. So the property assessments that we lowered since 1991 will be going back up to their Proposition 13 values,'' he said.

Under Proposition 13, the value is assessed at the time a property is developed or sold. Under Proposition 8, about 72,000 property assessments countywide have been lowered below their Proposition 13 value to reflect the six-year declining market.

The county contains 229,000 residential, rural and commercial properties.

Under the adopted county budget, the Human Service Agency, now immersed in welfare reform, and public safety departments will receive most of the 200 staff positions that will be added - most funded by state and federal grants.

The additional revenues will also allow officials to add $5 million to the $18 million cash reserve fund, which officials believe will result in lower interest rates.

``That has a bearing on the rating we get for borrowing funds,'' Bigler said.

The nongeneral fund budget pays for services from special districts, such as fire protection, library, flood control, waterworks, roads, as well as the Ventura County Medical Center and its satellite clinics.

Supervisor Frank Schillo said the quick passage of the budget - hearings usually last a week - was the result of cooperation from department heads who did not submit inflated spending plans.

He also praised the efforts of CAO Lin Koester, who has been working closely with department heads since January.

``We had a very clear picture of what's going on in the county,'' Schillo said.