NATIONAL SURVEY RATES COUNTY AVERAGE.

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - Praised for the way it handles employees and finances but criticized for its backlog of road work and other improvement projects, Los Angeles County earned a C grade in a nationwide survey released today.

Among seven California counties studied, Los Angeles ranked sixth. San Diego County was best with a B-plus, followed by Orange with a B, Contra Costa, B-minus; Sacramento, Alameda, Riverside and Santa Clara counties, all C-plus. San Bernardino, with a C-minus, ranked lowest.

``Overall, Los Angeles County really did pretty well, with the single exception of capital management and maintenance,'' said Richard Greene, co-author of the Government Performance Project, a joint venture of Syracuse (N.Y.) University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and Governing Magazine.

The average grade for the 40 large counties included in the survey was a C-plus.

In addition to overall ratings, the study - based on surveys and interviews with county employees - gave letter grades for financial management, capital management, human resources management, managing for results and information technology management.

Los Angeles County rated a B-minus - the national norm - for financial management, with Greene citing such practices as conservative revenue forecasts and accurate record keeping.

The county also got a B-minus - above the national average of C-plus - for its human resources management, including work force planning and recruitment efforts.

The county received a C-plus, the national average, for managing for results, and a C-minus in information technology management.

The study was most critical of the way the county manages its capital funds, giving it a D-plus, compared with a C-plus norm.

``The county has more than $2 billion in backlogged maintenance projects,'' Greene said. ``It also has a capital improvement plan that only goes one year ahead. A good plan should set up projects five to 10 years in the future.''

Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen said he appreciates the effort to help counties identify common ways to evaluate their operations and learn from each other.

``I am comfortable with three of the marks they gave us, but the one they are dead wrong on, and their data must be wrong, is capital management,'' said Janssen, adding that the county's maintenance backlog is $200 million, not $2 billion.

``It can't be that bad. So, while I think the report is a good start, it still needs some refining.''

Supervisor Don Knabe said he wasn't surprised by the D-plus grade.

``We are constantly in a state of catch-up on capital projects,'' Knabe said. ``We are moving pots of money here and there, scrambling to keep things open and putting money into roads because of the significant property tax shift from the counties to the state.

``This might be a good document to use to see where we need to improve, particularly compared to other counties.''

Greene said the county would do well to keep better abreast of maintenance needs for roads, buildings and parks, noting that ``every dollar you don't spend on maintenance now will cost you $10 a decade from now.''

Greene, who said the study was designed to assist local governments in improving their operations, also noted he had sympathy for Los Angeles County and its neighbors because the state government has traditionally consumed and controlled a large portion of tax and other revenues, often to the detriment of local governments.

``In California, you're working at a deficit before you go out the door,'' Greene said.

The survey gave an overall B to Orange County, an above-average mark it attributed to reforms enacted in the wake of the county's bankruptcy in the 1990s.

The lowest overall grade given in California county was a C-minus to San Bernardino County.

Topping the survey with overall grades of A-minus were Fairfax County, Va., a wealthy Washington, D.C., suburban area, and Maricopa County, Ariz., which includes Phoenix.

Nassau County, on New York's Long Island, was rated worst with a D-minus.

Using the same criteria, a 2000 Government Performance Project survey of states gave California a C-plus grade. A 2001 study of major cities gave Los Angeles a C and Long Beach a B.

To check out the entire Government Performance Project of counties on the Internet, visit www.Governing.com.

Staff Writer Troy Anderson contributed to this report.

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SOURCE: The Maxwell School at Syracuse University

Dan Delorenzo/Staff Artist