COUNTY PANEL SUGGESTS CUTTING COSTS\Privatization, reducing overhead could save millions, report says.

Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer

In a wide-scope report suggesting millions of dollars in potential savings, a citizens committee has recommended that Ventura County consider privatizing services such as the sheriff's helicopter and crime lab and animal control.

The Ventura County Mandate Review Committee issued a report with 24 recommendations for slashing the county budget. The eight-member committee urged consolidation of services, cutting of overhead and detailing more specific performance benchmarks - suggestions touted as a potential gold mine of savings if adopted by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

"You have to remember we were not being political, so there was a lot we could take out," said Dorothy Maron, the chairwoman of the committee. "But the board has to be political, so we'll see what they take out. But there are millions of dollars to be saved."

In one of the most controversial sections of the report, the committee suggested 14 areas where county services could be handed over to private companies. They included graphics services, payroll, court mediation and victims services, the sheriff's helicopter, landscaping and custodial duties, animal control, and the medical, forensic and crime labs.

"The majority of the committee believes that open competition is a viable means for controlling cost if appropriate controls are in place to ensure quality and consistency as well as limit county liability," the report stated.

But the prospect of handing over services to private operators sparked disagreement among the panel. A dissenting faction warned that privatization could violate state laws and the county's 1944 civil service ordinance.

"That was probably one of the places that was a little political," said Maron, a former Oxnard City Council member. "I know I had a dissenting opinion."

Some department heads also reacted coolly to the suggestion to hand over programs to private companies.

Ventura County Animal Regulation Director Kathy Jenks doubted her department could be privatized because the state-mandated duties like rabies vaccinations, licensing and pickup and care of injured animals actually lose money.

"There's no revenue source that goes with that," she said. "There's no money to be made."

Undersheriff Richard Bryce questioned whether his department could save money by privatizing its lab or helicopter service.

"We definitely feel we can provide the taxpayers service in helicopter coverage and operating the crime laboratory at less expense than paying private enterprise to do it," he said. "We don't have to make a profit. All we have to worry about is breaking even."

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors launched the commission last summer to examine programs mandated by state and federal law and see how much discretion the county had to modify them. The supervisors will consider the report Tuesday as it prepares to confront a budget deficit of nearly $18 million for the coming fiscal year.

"I sat down and read that thing last night," Supervisor Frank Schillo said of the committee's report. "I'm actually calling it the bible for the budget battle."

Schillo said the report offered keen insights from a group of outside observers with a fresh perspective.

"Some of the things may or may not work, and they admit that," he said. "But I'm not going to dismiss the whole thing just because of that. I'm going to look at each and every one of those and stay on top of that like a beagle."

The panel faulted county departments for lacking clear benchmarks to measure productivity, saying managers sometimes lost sight of their missions.

The committee recommended the county require departments to set clearer goals to measure performance. For example, it cited one Public Social Services Agency program which failed to measure how many clients were able to wean themselves from public assistance.

The committee also urged the county to ensure that fees and fines recovered the full cost of the service. It cited some programs that recover less than their full cost, including agriculture permits, planning permits, sheriff's search and rescue operations, and animal regulation fees.

The committee also recommended:

More management audits of county departments to encourage more accurate budget projections and aid planning.

Placing a ceiling on county overhead and indirect costs - areas which have remained largely unchallenged in the budget process so far. It said a reduction of just five percent could save more than $1.6 million per year.

Automating more job functions and consolidating computer systems.

Training firefighters to take on additional duties when not responding to emergencies.

Creating a citizens advisory committee to oversee budgets of the sheriff's, district attorney, corrections, public defender and fire departments. The Board of Supervisors lost some of its control last year when it passed an ordinance protecting the public safety budgets.

An audit to measure the efficiency of the new Todd Road Jail.