Ventura Supervisors OK $600-Million Budget

After two days of budget hearings, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors approved a $600-million spending package and doled out about $10.5 million in discretionary funds to reduce air pollution, fight crime and care for the medically indigent.

The board disregarded Tuesday a recommendation by its chief administrative officer to set aside $3 million, opting to allocate all but $1.4 million of a $12.6-million contingency fund.

One of the biggest winners was the Health Care Agency, which received $1.9 million to offset cuts in state funding for medical care of Ventura County’s poor. Supervisors Maggie Erickson and Susan Lacey called the state funding “grossly inadequate.”

The supervisors also laid financial cornerstones for several health care-related facilities. They approved $250,000 toward an $8-million crisis center at Camarillo State Hospital to care for abused and neglected children. And they set aside $234,000 for the first year’s payment on a $2.3-million, 16-bed locked unit to care for the acutely mentally ill and agreed to finance the balance in coming years.

Cite Crowded Facilities

Mental health advocates have long lobbied for an addition to the existing facility, saying that 42 patients are often crammed into space for 28.

In a salute to environmental concerns, the Air Pollution Control District received $1 million to draw up ride-sharing plans and to study other ways to reduce air pollution and traffic.

The Sheriff’s Department and district attorney’s office also received $1 million. The money will be used to fight drugs and gangs, and law enforcement officials hope the program will eventually start making money through a forfeiture program under which assets of suspected drug dealers can be seized and sold.

In addition, the county approved money for a full-time soils inspector to investigate claims that developers are illegally grading hillsides.

Complaints about illegal grading “escalated so much in the past year,” Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer said.

Carpet Not Replaced

A $3.6-million request to replace the carpet--which is threadbare in places--at the county government center was not approved.

The county started its budget deliberations buoyed by a $12.6-million contingency fund--one of the largest in county history. Budget officials attributed the rosy picture to a 13% increase in the assessed valuation of real property.

Chief Administrative Officer Richard Wittenberg said the county also saved money because it has been unable to fill a number of jobs, partly because potential employees cannot afford to buy homes in Ventura County.

Wittenberg also cited the success of a county program encouraging each department to shave costs. The program calls for the allocation of 10% of any department’s savings back to the department to be spent at its discretion.

All told, 165 jobs will be added to the county’s payroll, including 18 additional staff members for the district attorney’s child support division and 10 sheriff’s deputies, who are to transfer to the new county jail when it opens in several years.