Sheriff Rod Hoops

10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, June 19, 2010

By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County Sheriff Rod Hoops said he is trying to put together a plan to avoid layoffs in his department despite a $23 million budget shortfall.

His department’s financial outlook became more complicated last week when the San Bernardino County Safety Employees’ Benefit Association, which represents 3,100 employees, voted to reject a request by the county to forgo previously negotiated pay raises.

Hoops said he respected the decision by deputies. “They were fully within their right to request their pay raise,” he said.

But it now means that an $11 million deficit his department was facing due to declining sales tax revenues has jumped to $23 million.

County spokesman David Wert has said that, with the safety employees unwilling to give up raises, the county will have to cut the sheriff, district attorney and probation departments by about $13 million. That amount is the equivalent to the salaries of about 130 sheriff’s deputies, 40 probation officers and three district attorney’s investigators, he said.

It will be up to the departments to decide how to make up for that money, Wert said.

Hoops said his proposal is unfinished, but he’s looking at a combination of measures, such as reducing overtime, curtailing vehicle use, cutting down on purchase of supplies and shifting employees to plug holes without needing to lay off sworn personnel.

The resulting cuts would leave the organization very lean, he said.

“There’s going to be some difficult and hard times to get to $23 million,” Hoops said. “It’s going to be painful.”

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