SHERIFF TOLD TO CHARGE CITIES MORE SUPERVISORS RECOMMEND SERVICE CONTRACT CHANGES.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

During the first day of budget hearings Wednesday, Los Angeles County supervisors asked Sheriff Lee Baca to try to charge cities higher prices for the services he provides.

The Board of Supervisors hopes to offset $284 million in cuts that must be made beginning July 1.

The sheriff has five-year contracts, up for renewal July 1, with cities that contract with his department for law enforcement services. An audit released last year found the department is undercharging cities between $39 million and $1.3 billion, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said.

``I know there has been a bureaucratic war going on about how much it is,'' Yaroslavsky said. ``And I know you're going to be asking voters to approve a half-cent sales tax measure. I'm just wondering if you have made any effort to renegotiate the amount of money paid to us by contract cities.''

Baca said the county auditor sets the rates the cities are charged but that he has spoken with city officials about them bearing more of the training costs for sheriff's personnel.

``I believe that training costs to keep people proficient is a particular area of interest when it comes to getting more revenue, but it certainly isn't a billion or hundreds of millions of dollars,'' Baca said.

``I don't pretend to know what the county auditor knows about what the true cost assessments are, but I'm happy to explore that aspect of it, including what you've discussed about setting some fee standards for helicopters.''

Baca told the supervisors he has ``grave concerns'' about making any cuts in his $1.7 billion budget. Nearly $200 million in cuts in the last two years have resulted in the loss of funding for 1,000 deputies, the closure of several jail facilities and the early release of more than 50,000 jail inmates.

Steve Remige, vice president of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, said Deputy Steve Sorensen, who was killed last August by anti-government loner Donald Kueck in the Lake Los Angeles area, ``was a victim of budget reductions, forced to work in a remote area of Palmdale without proper staffing levels.''

Incensed by the comment, Yaroslavsky asked whether the union was concerned about public safety when deputies staged sickouts last year, shutting down courts, reducing patrols and interrupting jail operations.

``It was a sickout for significantly increased pensions, which would have cost this county upwards of a half-billion dollars upfront and somewhere between $50 million to $100 million annually,'' Yaroslavsky said.

Remige said ALADS never condoned or orchestrated the sickouts.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com