Feeling Flush, County Pays Debts, Funds New Projects

Orange County budget officials today released a $5.8 billion spending plan for the coming fiscal year, a 6 percent increase over last year.

For the first time since the Great Recession, county officials are budgeting for projects that were deferred during the economy’s downturn, beginning in 2007. This fiscal year also marks another milestone -- the first time county officials don’t have to shell out $18 million from the general revenue fund to pay for debt related to the county’s 1994 bankruptcy.

County officials also anticipate soon paying off all of the $22 million in debt payments related to the bankruptcy, which is coming out of the budgets for OC Waste and Recycling and OC Parks.

And, if all goes well with the state’s budget, the county could get a $39 million windfall as reimbursement for unfunded mandates dating to before 2004, according to county Budget Director Michelle Aguirre.

Some of the bigger-ticket expenses in the budget blueprint include a $15 million payment to the state, which is part of a settlement the county reached in a tax dispute. The $15 million is the second of five payments totaling $150 million owed to the state.

The budget also includes $3.9 million for legal fees the county was ordered to pay to the American Civil Liberties Union in its lawsuit against the county’s practice of using injunctions to crack down on local street gangs; and $10.5 million to settle a dispute with the county’s attorneys, who sued when they had a labor contract imposed on them.

County supervisors are poised tomorrow to consider approving paying the attorneys $10.5 million, which is roughly the difference in what they were receiving in salary versus the contract imposed on them two years ago, Aguirre said.

Revenue from a program that rents jail beds to the federal government to house immigration detainees is trending upward again after prison realignment requirements cut into it, Aguirre said. The recently approved Proposition 47, which allows some defendants to petition to have their convictions reduced to misdemeanors, has helped free up beds in Orange County’s jails, making them available for the federal government to rent, Aguirre said.

The sheriff has a maximum of 838 beds to rent, but as the county picked up more inmates from state prisons to help relieve overcrowding, the number of beds made available to the federal government had at times shrunk to about 400, Aguirre said. Recently, the number of beds available to the federal government has been closer to about 630, she said.

The sheriff has asked for $7 million to add a position at the OC Crime Lab, another post for emergency management and two positions for the Closed- Circuit Television System upgrade and expansion. The county has budgeted $3.3 million for the new positions and equipment upgrades, but is hoping for grant money and reimbursements from the state to fund the rest.

More money is available for law enforcement in the county, which is principally financed by Proposition 172 revenues. County officials expect a 4 percent bump up in property tax revenue and 3 percent in Proposition 172 revenues.

One of the projects the county can now afford to pay for is $2.1 million to start work on a multipurpose rehabilitation center for juveniles.

The OC Community Resources department has asked for $6.95 million for two year-round emergency shelters for the homeless, but the county is budgeting $6.7 million, with $3.1 million coming from the current fiscal-year budget that has not been spent on the project.

The budget is consistent with the county’s cautious approach to spending when the economy is expanding, Aguirre said. County officials want to make sure they have enough money set aside to avoid significant layoffs and service cuts during a downturn in the economy, with the next one forecast by some experts as early as 2017, she said.

OTHER PATCH HEADLINES

• OC Man Accused of Fraudulently Selling Middle East In-N-Out Franchise to Investors
• Woman Killed but Children Survive Mother’s Day Wreck in Laguna Beach
• Hacker Hijacks City’s Homepage
• Police Snatch Piper ‘The Wonder Cat’ from the Jaws of Coyote
• Teacher Charged with Molesting Boy He Met as a Court Appointed Advocate for Children
• Police Seek Person Who Dumped Chlorine in Rescue Tank for 17 Sea Lions
• Police Seek Additional Victims of Teacher/Coach Accused of Molestation
• Video: Wedding Singer’s Rapping Grandma Dies at 101
• Laguna Niguel Man Pleads Guilty in County’s Largest Ponzi Scheme
• Did State’s Largest Bank Bilk You?

City News Service

Get Patched in! Sign up for free news alerts for your town.

AGOURA HILLS | BELMONT SHORE-NAPLES|BEVERLY HILLS | BRENTWOOD | CALABASAS| CERRITOS-ARTESIA | CULVER CITY | HERMOSA BEACH | HOLLYWOOD | LONG BEACH | MALIBU | MANHATTAN BEACH | MARINA DEL REY | NORTH HOLLYWOOD-TOLUCA LAKE | NORTHRIDGE-CHATSWORTH | PACIFIC PALISADES |PALOS VERDES | REDONDO BEACH | SANTA MONICA |SHERMAN OAKS | STUDIO CITY | VENICE-MAR VISTA | WEST HOLLYWOOD | WESTWOOD-CENTURY CITY |WOODLAND HILLS