The Time Is Right to Fix a Serious Wrong : * County’s Share of State Funds Must Be Increased

Not since Proposition 13 has there been such a cataclysmic change in the structure of state and local government as is being proposed now in Sacramento. But this change is also presenting a unique opportunity that Orange County cannot afford to miss. If it acts quickly and with unity, the county’s legislative delegation could help rectify longstanding funding inequities that have left the county tens of millions of dollars behind other counties over the years.

The timing is crucial, as many changes are afoot. Gov. Pete Wilson, grappling with a crushing $14.4-billion state deficit, has outlined a plan to shift to counties responsibility for major health and welfare programs, along with revenues from a half-cent sales-tax increase and increased vehicle-license fees. This realignment in itself is a worry to all counties, which fear that, once programs are shifted, they will be left holding the bag as costs skyrocket in future years. Wilson has proposed giving counties authority to seek local sales-tax increases to meet these future demands. But that would pose difficult problems for boards of supervisors, especially in a conservative county such as Orange.

There are other concerns, however, for a few counties, including Orange, which have been victimized by funding formulas put in place before rapid growth changed them from suburban to urban counties in need of more social-services programs. As a result, several counties in Southern California are near the bottom in per-capita revenues allocated from state general-fund revenues for state-mandated programs. For example, as a statewide average, counties get $40.13 per capita for mental health and public health, while Orange County gets only $28.63. Exacerbating this disparity, Orange County also gets a lower portion than most counties of local property-tax revenues because of formulas that were frozen by the state after passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. That leaves Orange County with little flexibility in making up revenues for state-mandated social services that are not fully covered by the state.

Numerous efforts to correct the inequities have been blocked over the years by the powerful legislative delegations of urban counties, including Los Angeles County, which receives a much greater share of state revenues per capita than the so-called “underequity� counties. Yet, as an indication of the severity of the problems all urban counties face, even those that receive a greater proportion are hard-pressed to deliver needed social services.

Given the current preoccupation with the massive problems of realignment, few in Orange County expect a significant change in the basic formulas the state has utilized to cut up the pie. However, there is a proposal afoot to give underequity counties more of a share of future revenue growth. But it is important to address the equity problem now, when things are in flux.

Orange County could be a major player in restoring equality. For example, six Republican votes are needed to pass the budget in the Assembly, and there are five GOP Orange County Assembly members. They could form a powerful bloc to negotiate with Gov. Wilson, a fellow Republican, to get changes favoring Orange and other underequity counties. But that would require a degree of flexibility--possibly even an agreement to provide crucial votes for Wilson’s budget--that’s virtually unknown in this delegation.

This is spring, however, and hope springs eternal. Much will be decided in the next few weeks. Orange County legislators must not fumble this opportunity to right a serious wrong.