County workers to receive layoff notices Tuesday

Tulare County is experiencing a black Tuesday of its own this week as more than 300 county employees receive layoff notices, county officials said Monday.

Proposed restructuring could see closure of a health clinic in Lindsay and a potential increase in case work at the mental health clinic in Porterville.

“This is a very sad day. We are not taking it lightly. It is difficult to let people go any time, but especially during the holidays. It has been tough on administration and management,” Jean Rousseau, Tulare County’s top administrator, said Monday. “What this means county wide is that we will reduce services, have longer lines and it will take people longer to get the services they are seeking while we are in the organizing department. We will try to provide the same level of service with less people. This is a very difficult process to go through.”

Tulare County officials are proposing 475 job cuts in the Health and Human Services Agency. Many of the positions have been kept vacant, but the cuts will still result in the layoff of 225 people.

“We have a severe budget shortfall to make up by the end of our fiscal year on June 30, 2009, yet we are determined to maintain the highest possible level of client services to the public,” John Davis, Tulare County Health and Human Services agency director, said Monday in a prepared release.

Cost-cutting strategies have been implemented, including eliminating and reducing contracts with health providers, adopting a county wide hiring freeze, leaving many positions vacant, cutting travel and reducing supply spending. As a result, county officials said HHSA has already seen significant reductions in funding levels.

In addition, revenues from many sources have declined in the past two years, including realignment, Medi-Cal revenues and other reductions in state program allocations, county officials report. And, in October, the state enacted another round of program cuts, some of which were retroactive, Tulare County spokesman Eric Coyne said Monday in a prepared release.

Tulare County lost approximately $5 million in sales tax dollars over the last two years — revenue that normally almost-exclusively funds HHSA programs, the county reports. The loss was due to the state eliminating the base for sales tax and vehicle license fee realignment money, the county reports.

“We have suffered losses in both state and federal grants and allocations,” Davis said in a letter to agency staff. “The point is simply this — the size of this problem has grown significantly this year. We have made every effort to meet these successive reductions, but there still remains a shortfall of over $5 million agency wide, and it has impacted all our departments. There is no cross-funding rescue we can expect from a sister department.”

The county has prepared a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors that calls for a number of changes, including the closure of two health clinics in Lindsay and Tulare, Davis said.

“We are hopeful that this can be accomplished, as it was in Dinuba, with an orderly transfer of operations to a third party and no loss of service to our clients,” Davis said.

In addition, the county is recommending the consolidation of Adult Mental Health in two clinic locations, Visalia and Porterville.

Since seniority — or what decisions individuals will make — cannot accurately be predicted in the bumping process, the county is sending more layoff notices than needed to accomplish the targeted job cuts, county officials report.

“Nothing can shake this organization and its people more than losing some of our friends, work mates, and those on whom we have depended,” Davis said in the letter. “There is enough sadness in this for everyone in the agency. This will not be easy; it will be wrenching.”

-- Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1047, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com.