2000-01 PROPOSED COUNTY BUDGET (3-VOTES)

A $320 million reduction in Special Funds is primarily attributable to the deletion of the Children and Families First - Proposition 10 Fund ($261 million) consistent with your Board's action, and a $31 million reduction in the Road Fund. The Road Fund reduction is a technical change necessary to implement recommendations pursuant to an Auditor-Controller fiscal audit and reflects no service level reduction.--

Special Districts reflect a $136 million reduction primarily due to a $105 million reduction in Regional Park and Open Space Funds, a $61 million reduction in Flood Control District funds, offset by a Fire Department increase of $46 million. The Flood Control reduction is attributable to the audit referenced above, and similarly, does not reflect a service level reduction.

• Goal No. 1 - Service Excellence: Provide the public with easy access to quality information and services that are both beneficial and responsive.

Consistent with the Board-approved Long-Term Family Self Sufficiency (LTFSS) Plan, and as an example of promoting "One County," seamless services, the budget reflects funding for several County departments to pursue Plan goals via more coordinated and collaborative planning and service provision, including:

Appropriation of $5.1 million and 60.0 positions in the Department of Health Services, funded by CalWORKs performance incentives, for the Nurse Home Visitation Program focusing on prenatal and early childhood services for children of young, single mothers living in poverty;

Funding of $5.9 million for six CalWORKs-funded projects in the Probation Department to provide supervision, tutoring and other vital services to CalWORKs recipients on probation; and

$11.9 million, partially offset by a $5.7 million reduction in carryover funding, for the Department of Community and Senior Services - Assistance for Mini-Career Centers to provide employment and post-employment services to CalWORKs participants and non-custodial parents, as well as a Youth Jobs project.

To improve services and access to the public, additional funding of $556,000 is reflected to support Public Library efforts to assist customers in using Internet computers at 25 libraries and to provide systems support for the Library's public access computer program.

• Goal No. 2 - Workforce Excellence: Enhance the quality and productivity of the County workforce.

The budget reflects $1.0 million for staffing and university/college contract costs for the Department of Human Resources to expand and enhance its countywide manager and staff development and training program.

NCC funding of $721,000 is recommended to allow the Coroner to enhance staff skills by relieving current physician workload and increasing training and supervision of residents.
Reimbursable funding of $982,000, including 5.0 new positions, is reflected in the budget for the Internal Services Department to improve and expand recruitment and classification efforts consistent with the County's and Department's strategic planning efforts.

• Goal No. 3 - Organizational Effectiveness: Ensure that service delivery systems are efficient, effective, and goal-oriented.

As an example of collaboration across functional and jurisdictional boundaries, the budget reflects State funding of $2.1 million for the District Attorney and $1.2 million for the Probation Department to implement the Community Law Enforcement and Recovery (CLEAR) project in conjunction with the Sheriff's Department, as well as the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and Police Department, to provide a coordinated response to crime perpetrated by criminal gangs.

As an example of improving internal operations, the budget reflects additional funding of $1.0 million and 14.0 new positions for the Auditor-Controller, fully offset by charges for services, to provide enhanced support and promote improvements in countywide systems, improve administration of property tax distribution involving community redevelopment agencies, and strengthen electronic data processing audit services.

• Goal No. 4 - Fiscal Responsibility: Strengthen the County's fiscal capacity.

The budget reflects another $30.0 million for the third year of a multi year effort to reduce the General Fund's reliance on time-limited Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association's (LACERA) excess earnings.

One-time NCC funding is recommended for investment in our physical and technology infrastructure, including:

$5.4 million for the Information Technology Infrastructure Fund for investments in high priority telecommunications and information technology projects (this is in addition to significant information technology funding reflected in various departmental budgets);

$6.8 million for high priority capital projects; and

$3.0 million for the Motor Vehicle Accumulative Capital Outlay (ACO) Fund to replace aging critical vehicles.

• Pursuant to your Board's instruction that we investigate the feasibility of adopting a multi-year budget, the Proposed Budget reflects two-year budgets for the Departments of Parks and Recreation, Regional Planning and the Public Library, as an initial pilot. These pilot multi-year budgets are being provided under separate cover. The second year of these budgets are presented for informational purposes only at this time and reflect those impacts which departments are able to project, including such multi-year budget components as the LACERA buy-down, certain salary and employee benefit adjustments, and phasing out Flood Control District funding for relevant parks.

• The Sheriff's budget reflects $4.6 million in NCC to maintain the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program in the County's unincorporated areas, and $3.0 million in one-time supplemental funding for the Deputy Training Program.

• The budget reflects $526,000 in reimbursable funding for the District Attorney to pursue special prosecution programs, including Juvenile Offender Intervention Network, the Real Estate Fraud Unit, and the Stalking and Threat Assessment Team Project.

• Appropriation of $3.0 million is reflected in the Fire Department budget for fire fighter positions related to the Federal and State "2-in/2-out" requirements, as well as Emergency Medical Service (EMS) instructors and staff to implement efforts in vegetative management, plan check, and school/institution/area occupancy inspections.

• Reimbursable funding of $5.3 million is reflected in the District Attorney - Family Support budget for community outreach efforts and expansion of Call Center operations, criminal prosecution, and co-locate services in order to enhance child support collection efforts. Transition of child support operations to a new, separate County department, consistent with recently-enacted State legislation, is not reflected in the Proposed Budget pending clarification and guidelines from the State on the specific manner and timing of such transition.

• The Proposed Budget reflects increased appropriation of $12.0 million and 64.0 positions for various new grant-funded programs, primarily in Alcohol and Drug Programs and the Office of AIDS Programs and Policy, as well as expanded environmental health operations and a violence intervention program.

• Additional NCC of $4.1 million and 54.0 positions is reflected for administration of various programs to reduce the risk of adverse actions, including: full establishment of an ethics and compliance unit; implementation of a Critical Event Reporting process to respond in a comprehensive, prospective manner to systemic medical services problems and complete corrective actions in advance of legal process; and improvement of the emergency medical services and trauma system.

• Increased appropriation of $10.1 million is included for the Healthy Families Program consistent with increased enrollment.

• The Proposed Budget for Health Services also reflects:

Reduced appropriation of $11.5 million to reflect approved reengineering projects and additional commitments, increasing total targeted savings from $70.9 million in 1999-00 to $82.4 million in 2000-01;

Assumed realization of $255.4 million in 1115 Waiver Medicaid Demonstration Project ("Waiver") revenues, exclusive of intergovernmental transfers, including $186.6 million from extension of current core Waiver elements and $68.8 million from a requested hospital outpatient indigent care match; and

Assumed maximization of current and budget year SB 1255 funding under the permanently extended 175 percent Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 Disproportionate Share Hospital cap relief for public hospitals in California, resulting in an additional $79.0 million in fund balance and $37.7 million in revenue, respectively.

• The budget reflects increased funding of $76.0 million, including an additional 562.0 positions, for the Department of Public Social Services - Administration budget, including: 1) $17.3 million in revenue-offset funding to support projected caseloads for the Welfare-to-Work/GAIN program and the new Community Services Program (reducing caseloads from 115 to 40 for Community Services managers); 2) $2.0 million to support intensive case management for General Relief Opportunities for Work participants; and 3) $5.3 million to meet a projected 9.9 percent caseload growth in the IHSS Program.

• The Department of Children and Family Services budget (Administration and MacLaren Children's Center) reflects increased appropriation of $15.4 million and additional NCC of $10.5 million, including a net increase of 9.0 positions; key components of the NCC increase include: 1) $4.2 million in County match to obtain permanent State funding for Family Preservation; 2) $3.2 million in County match related to loss of State Emergency Workload Relief Augmentation funding; and 3) $1.8 million to replace 1999-00 one-time Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Performance Incentives funding for Emergency Assistance activities.

• The Proposed Budget funds the Department of Mental Health at the minimum State maintenance of effort level. The budget also reflects additional NCC of $13.2 million (the Department's required share of increased Vehicle License Fee-Realignment revenue) and total additional funding of $39.3 million, including:

$13.1 million in additional Federal Financial Participation (FFP) Medi Cal revenues and Demonstration Grants for new or expanded programs approved by the Board (e.g., Homeless Outreach, Substance Abuse Mental Health Service Administration Supportive Housing Grant); and

$9.4 million in increased Short Doyle Medi-Cal Administrative Fees and FFP Medi-Cal revenues to fund the current level of service and the Board-approved rate adjustment for Medi-Cal Speciality Mental Health Service providers under the Fee-for-Service Consolidation.

• The Department of Parks and Recreation budget reflects increased NCC of $3.1 million primarily to address 1) increased grounds maintenance costs (due to deceased availability of General Relief workers), and 2) increased need for swimming pool lifeguards and the elimination of swimming fees. An additional $3.0 million to address the Department's current year projected shortfall is reflected in Provisional Financing Uses pending completion of an audit by the Auditor-Controller on the extent and basis for the shortfall.

• The Proposed Budget reflects additional NCC of $525,000, including 5.0 positions, for the Department of Regional Planning to proceed with the Santa Monica Mountains North Area Plan, the Santa Monica Mountains Local Coastal Implementation Plan, and the Santa Clarita joint land use study.

• Additional funding of $260,000, more than offset by increased Marina rental income, is reflected in the Proposed Budget for the Department of Beaches and Harbors to pursue the urban design element of the Board-approved Marina Asset Management Strategy.

• Additional funding of $286,000, offset by $90,000 in revenue, is recommended for the Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures to implement the Red Imported Fire Ant Eradication Program.

• May revisions to the Governor's budget and updates on other 2000-01 State and Federal budget legislation and the resulting impact on the County's Proposed Budget;

• Final revisions reflecting latest estimates of requirements/available funds;

• Issues raised in public hearings or written testimony;

• Recommendations on the level of Bond Anticipation Note authorization;

• Specific matters with potential fiscal impact; and

• Issues as instructed by your Board.

• The document must be available for consideration by the public at least ten days prior to the commencement of budget hearings.

• Adjustments to the budget, including revisions necessary to reflect your Board's funding priorities and State and Federal budget actions, can be made during budget deliberations, prior to adoption of the Final Budget.

Per State law, your Board may make changes to the Proposed Budget with a simple majority (3 votes) until adoption of the Final Budget, if changes are based on the permanent record developed during public hearings (e.g., Proposed Budget, budget requests, and all written and oral input by Supervisors, County staff, and the public).

Changes not based upon the "permanent record" require a 4/5 vote.

THEREFORE, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOUR BOARD: