LOCAL AGENCIES BEGIN FEELING BUDGET PINCH.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

Jurors aren't receiving stipends, private vendors aren't being paid and nonprofit groups are bracing for their own financial crises as the state budget impasse in Sacramento continues with no end in sight.

The family-owned Industrial Metal Supply in Sun Valley has been through this before, when customers like California State University, Northridge, couldn't pay their bills because a state budget hadn't been passed by midnight June 30.

``We have to find out how far we're willing to go ... how much exposure we're willing to put up with,'' Chief Financial Officer Eric Steinhauer said Friday, adding that CSUN and other government customers make up about 5 percent of the 54-year-old company's business.

``We're going to go one month and see what happens,'' he said. ``The economy's tough. This just adds to the agony.''

Facing an unprecedented $38 billion shortfall, the state is nearly two weeks overdue in resolving the financial crisis.

The state has made it clear it won't be paying the bills for an array of services - from salaries for legislative staffers to funds for community colleges - until the Legislature approves a budget.

Federally mandated programs like Medi-Cal are being funded for now, but thousands of government vendors will have to wait for a budget before their invoices will be paid.

Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen said if the state runs out of money by September, the county would look at shutting down.

``We would not be able to make welfare payments and we would not have the money to run county offices,'' Janssen said. ``We would probably be looking at closing county operations.

``We do have some cash, but I don't know if we could afford to operate without any state revenue.''

Already, the Los Angeles Superior Court has stopped paying $6.2 million a month to more than 80 vendors, including custodial firms, office supply companies, juvenile dependency court attorneys, some interpreters, mental health hearing officers and contract mediators.

The court has also stopped paying jurors their $15-a-day stipend, plus mileage, which amounts to $650,000 a month.

And it's only a matter of time before the situation goes from bad to worse for the many nonprofit social service providers across the Valley that rely on state funds to help those who need it most.

Many have secured lines of credit to shore up operations and are ready to draw down their savings to keep the doors open.

``The clock is ticking,'' said Kimberly Wyard, CEO of the Northeast Valley Health Corp., which serves 40,000 patients a year at its 10 community clinics, one of the largest federally funded health organizations of its kind in the nation.

``Even if we liquidated every (certificate of deposit) we had, there would come a time when we couldn't make payroll,'' she said, estimating the operation could go at most 90 days before having to make cuts. ``It's a very scary situation to be in.''

The Sunland-based Tierra del Sol suffered such concern during last year's budget crisis that it secured a line of credit, putting up its property as collateral, to ensure that the nonprofit organization could stay open and serve 500 adults with profound disabilities, despite the crisis.

But even now, executive director Steve Miller said he's worried about what kind of budget will emerge as California makes steep cuts.

``The paralysis and the fear is not so much that the budget stalemate will cause our undoing, it's what the budget compromise and solution will be,'' he said.

If the budget impasse drags on beyond September, Cyndee Riding, executive director of the nonprofit Around the Corner child-care centers in Pacoima and Arleta, fears she might have to close down.

Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood has already started cutting the number of patients who can see a doctor - trimming 10 appointments a week from the nearly 450 they usually handle.

``In past years, when they haven't passed a budget, we had that sense it'll still be there, we'll get paid for them eventually,'' said Chief Operating Officer Diane Chamberlain.

``We don't have that same comfort level, because it's so dire,'' she said. ``There's a good chance when the budget is finally passed it won't be there. That will mean even more losses.''

Both Valley health organizations also have slowed their expansion plans - Valley Community Clinic wants to open a pediatric clinic and hire a doctor, while Northeast Valley Health Corp. was planning a second pharmacy and larger dental center.

``I have never experienced a period like we've had in the past year and a half, such extraordinary concern in the nonprofit sector,'' said Judy Spiegel, senior vice president of programs at the California Community Foundation, which supports groups across the county.

``The private sector budgets are down, the public sector is down ... It's just so painful. There is just no place to go.''

Staff writers Troy Anderson and Helen Gao contributed to this report.

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com