REPORT WARNS MEASURE WOULD FORCE FISCAL CUTS.

Byline: Jennifer Klein Staff Writer

VENTURA - The county would have to reduce its current budget by $18.4 million if the Community Memorial Hospital-backed Measure O is approved by voters on Nov. 7, a fiscal impact report released Tuesday says.

The county's report will be part of the ballot information booklet that will be sent to voters prior to the election. Arguments compiled by CMH in favor of the measure and the Coalition Against Measure O opposing the initiative also will be included.

Measure O seeks to divert $250 million over the next 25 years from county coffers to private care. The money is the county's share of a legal settlement reached after local governments sued Big Tobacco for the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses.

The initiative calls for CMH and other local private hospitals to spend the money to provide health care for the poor, elderly and children and to provide immunizations and smoking prevention programs for children.

The fiscal impact report was prepared by the county Auditor-Controller's Office. It reiterated previously released information showing that the county spent $3.1 million of the tobacco settlement to help pay a $15.3 million Medicare overbilling penalty. The county also has allocated $15.3 million to help balance this year's general fund budget.

CMH's argument in favor of measure maintains that supervisors never spent any of the tobacco settlement money on health care and claims they cannot be trusted to do so in the future.

In the argument against, the coalition said that the publicly funded Ventura County Medical Center provides 83 percent of the indigent care in the county and alleged that CMH used a ``top lobbyist for the tobacco industry'' to draft the measure.

CMH responded in its rebuttal that it actually treats 54 percent of the poor in Ventura County and that the Board of Supervisors has not spent any of the current tobacco settlement money on smoking prevention programs.