CHICK BACKS CONTROLS ON WORKERS' COMP COSTS.

Byline: Alexa Haussler Staff Writer

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Laura Chick scolded city officials Monday for failing to keep a lid on workers' compensation costs despite years of studies and consultants' recommendations about the problems.

Chick - who chairs the city's Governmental Efficiency Committee - said in a meeting Monday that she plans to hold monthly meetings to make sure the city's department heads are accountable for skyrocketing workers' compensation costs.

The Daily News reported last week that city budget officials face a workers' compensation bill of about $100 million this financial year and were forced to funnel nearly $10 million into the workers' compensation fund because costs already are on pace to surpass the amount budgeted for the year by $12 million or more.

``It seems to me that with a really energetic, focused effort on the part of everyone involved, that we should have at least found ways to keep the costs the same rather than skyrocketing $12 million,'' Chick said.

Julie Butcher, general manager of Service Employees International Union, Local 347, the union that represents city rank-and-file workers, said city government spends too little on safety programs and fails to enact employees' suggestions.

``I think we need to stop the studies and I think we need to figure out an adequate level of staffing for an operation of this size,'' Butcher said, referring to staffing for a safety office.

Chick said she will hold regular meetings to check the progress of city programs to identify fraudulent claims and increase safety programs in the city.

``This thing has been studied to death in my opinion. We've spent way too much on consultants already,'' she said.