County May Lose $500 Million in Health Funds : Finances: Cuts considered by Wilson would add to $2.2-billion local budget shortfall next year, board told.

Los Angeles County, already facing a $2.2-billion budget shortfall for the coming fiscal year, could lose an additional $500 million in health care funds under a plan being considered by Gov. Pete Wilson, officials said Wednesday.

“It would be a disaster,” said County Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon as the Board of Supervisors opened its first day of public hearings on the county budget. “There is no way we could maintain services with that sort of fiscal loss.”

Though the state proposal to lop 15% off its health services budget caught county officials by surprise, Dixon said it was already apparent that state officials facing their own budget woes “will definitely do something to us, and it won’t be good.”

The Wilson Administration is studying a proposal to slash its health services payouts by lowering payments to doctors and hospitals that care for the poor and cutting back dramatically on Medi-Cal eligibility. The effect would be to reduce state funding to counties, and that in turn would reduce federal matching funds.

Already, Los Angeles County’s proposed $13.4-billion budget falls a staggering $2.2 billion short of what is necessary to maintain the already strained level of service in the nation’s most populous county.

Worse still, Dixon told supervisors on Wednesday that he was revising his revenue projections down about $50 million to $70 million from what they were just one month ago. And, he added, “there is no indication that the California economy is turning around.”

The grim facts were apparently well understood by the parade of nearly two dozen civic leaders who addressed the board Wednesday. Virtually all of them limited their appeals to maintaining the current level of funding for their favorite programs; in deference to the bloodletting proposed for some departments, not one sought to increase funding for their pet projects.

“This is the toughest budget session in my 40 years” on the board, said Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. “The citizens ask for more . . . but the cupboard is bare.”

The proposed budget would inflict cuts in virtually every corner of county government, taking heavy tolls on the Sheriff’s, Welfare, Health, Parks and Recreation, and Beaches and Harbor departments. Layoffs could occur in several departments, including 300 or more at the Department of Public Social Services.

The proposed budget for the 1992-93 fiscal year, which begins July 1, eliminates the county’s innovative probation camp system, slashes scores of middle management jobs, closes parks and museums and shortens library hours.

Despite the Draconian cuts, the opening day of hearings attracted fewer than 50 people, and only 18 addressed the board.

Those who did--including representatives of the Asian Pacific Planning Council, Catholic Charities, West San Gabriel Valley Juvenile Diversion Project and Nature Center Associates--said county services were already inadequate and could not afford further cuts.

“Issues that caused the riots need to be attended to,” said Nancy Au, chair of the Asian Pacific Planning Council’s health committee. “We cannot go backwards. Services need to be maintained.”

Brother Modesto Leon of the Catholic Charities Action Youth Development program said, “We’re not coming here and asking for more funds . . . but just to keep what’s here.”

Doug Doepke, president of Nature Center Associates, said the county stands to lose hundreds of volunteer workers in the parks system by eliminating funding for the county’s nine natural areas, such as Eaton Canyon. Paul Russell, who volunteers at the Charmlee Nature Center, added that by abandoning the parks, vandalism and the threat of fires will increase. “Let’s not be penny-wise and pound-foolish,” he told the supervisors.

The supervisors generally sat stoically through the pleas and only made one promise: to maintain staffing at the Sheriff’s Department’s Marina del Rey substation in response to concerns raised by representatives of the Concerned Homeowners of Windsor Hill.

County officials had anticipated holding similar hearings today and Friday, but canceled those sessions when all those who asked to speak were accommodated during the 2 1/2-hour session Wednesday.

Larry Monteihl, executive officer to the Board of Supervisors, said additional hearings will probably be scheduled for Monday and possibly Wednesday. Union officials, who have criticized the budget as inadequate to meet increasing demands in welfare and health services, said they will ask to be heard.

The turnout for the hearings may have been light because of the county’s new program of community meetings with CAO Dixon and senior management.

After complaints that key county business was being conducted behind closed doors or with just superficial public debate, Dixon arranged for a series of hearings for public comment and explanation of the budget. And the budget document itself was expanded from a single volume, with terse and limited entries, to a series of four volumes replete with graphs, charts, schedules and suggested options.

At the six community meetings held so far, attendance has ranged from 85 in Pasadena to just 15 in Torrance. The majority of speakers at those meetings have criticized cuts in the Parks and Recreation Department. Others have voiced concerns about cuts in health and welfare programs, the Sheriff’s and Fire departments and children’s services, mental health and libraries.

Seven meetings will be held: in Long Beach, Walnut, Lost Hills, Van Nuys, East Los Angeles, La Puente and the Antelope Valley. The supervisors will complete their hearings by June 19 and will begin deliberations on July 27, after completion of the state budget process. The state provides about 35% of all funding for county programs.

“Until the people who give us 35% of our money act, it’s a little like shadow boxing,” said Dixon.

Budget Meetings County officials arranged for an unprecedented series of hearings for public comment and explanation of the budget process this year. Here are places and times of the remaining hearings: Long Beach Municipal Court, 7 to 9 p.m. today, 415 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach.

Walnut Sheriff’s Station, 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, 21695 Valley Blvd., Walnut.

Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, 27050 Agoura Road, Calabasas.

Van Nuys Municipal Court, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, 14400 Erwin Street Mall, Van Nuys.

Sunol Community Service Center, 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, 133 N. Sunol Drive., Los Angeles.

Bassett Park Multipurpose Room, 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, 510 N. Vineland Ave., La Puente.

Note: Officials have not yet set the time and place for an additional hearing in the Antelope Valley.