Lawsuits settled

Sheriff, D.A, board of supervisors, city of Thousand Oaks were all involved in litigation

By Daniel Wolowicz

danielw@theacorn.com

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to settle lawsuits involving the board and Ventura County public safety agencies. The litigation was between the board of supervisors, the sheriff’s department and the district attorney’s office.

The settlement enables the sheriff’s department to reopen the East County Jail, which was closed in 2003 due to budget constraints.

According to officials, the agreement better defines how public safety agencies are allocated funds under Proposition 172, a 1993 law that created a fixed amount of sales tax revenue intended for law enforcement and judicial proceedings.

Ordinance 4088 was passed after voters approved the proposition. The new law required city and county officials to manage a trust account intended for public safety. Ordinance 4088 further required that when city and county officials compute yearly budgets for public safety, they must include "any associated inflationary costs."

But language in the law left it unclear how the taxes were to be spent.

The dispute came to a head in 2003 when the supervisors were accused of misappropriating about $50 million in Prop. 172 revenue that was allegedly earmarked for public safety.

Law enforcement officials had said they needed an additional 10 percent each year to keep patrol cars on the streets and maintain the jail at East Valley Station on Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks. The supervisors felt the 10 percent increase was too much in the wake of decreased revenue. It didn’t reflect, the sluggish economy, supervisors said.

"The additional 10 percent increase every year would have bankrupted us," said Ventura County

Supervisor Linda Parks.

The lawsuit was mediated before going to court. Taxpayers saved an estimated $1 million in court and legal fees, Parks said.

"We’re glad this is over, and we feel the end result will be beneficial for both the department, as well as the taxpayers," said Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks.

Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten, happy with the settlement, said the agreement defines how public safety agencies are budgeted by taking into account both the consumer price index and the total amount of revenue in the general fund, amortized over a 10- year period.

The agreement, Totten said, allows public agencies to share money during boom times and it protects the county during lean years.

"The most important aspect of this agreement for the county is it’s partially based on the county’s revenue and how much we have in the general fund," Parks said.

As part of the agreement, the sheriff’s department will receive $9 million to cover pension bond obligations, Brooks said. The money covers two years of obligations, after which time the department will be free and clear of any pension-bond debt.

Because of the pension fund, the department lost about $30 million over the last four years and had to cut 200 jobs, said Brooks.

When the jail reopens next fall, East County deputies will no longer need drive to the Main Jail in Ventura. They will have more time to patrol the streets of the Conejo Valley and surrounding communities and response times will be quicker, officials said.

Despite the agreement, the East County Jail will still need more time to become fully operational, Brooks said.

The city of Thousand Oaks had sued the sheriff’s department because of the closure of the jail and facilities at East Valley Station.