Signs have been appearing for months that Ventura County government is in for some tight times: a multibillion-dollar state deficit, a falling real estate market, a sluggish retail economy.

On Thursday, some of the proof emerged. The County Executive Office released its proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, and it shows $1.64 billion in total revenue and spending, an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous year, well below the rate of inflation. Revenue growth in the past few years has been in the 5 percent range.

There are no layoffs in the proposed budget, but it contains no new programs either, and many departments are being asked to reduce spending.

The budget will be presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, but the board won't begin debating it until June 16. Supervisors are expected to approve a final budget during that same week.

"We're being very conservative," Supervisor Kathy Long said. "The economy is looking pretty ugly, and property values continue to decrease, so we have to be conservative."

The 428-page budget proposal is the first from new County Executive Officer Marty Robinson, and it follows the same general priorities put forward by her predecessor and mentor, Johnny Johnston.

The top priority remains law enforcement. Robinson proposes spending $364 million, or 41 percent of the general fund, on the District Attorney's Office, Sheriff's Department, Public Defender's Office, Probation Agency, jails and court services.

Typically makes changes

The second-biggest chunk of the general fund, at 36 percent, is earmarked for healthcare and welfare programs.

Most healthcare programs are not paid for by the general fund. Instead, they rely on payments from patients, insurance companies and state and federal programs. Ventura County Medical Center has a $250 million annual budget, about $10 million of which would come from the general fund under Robinson's proposed budget.

The budget calls for a $10 million balance at the end of the 2008-09 fiscal year. That money could be put into the county's reserve fund or spent on new initiatives during the coming year.

The budgeted payroll in Robinson's proposal would creep above 8,000 full-time employees for the first time since 2004, with 8,048 budgeted positions, although many of them are currently unfilled.

That represents a growth of about 1 percent in the budgeted work force, down from 3 percent growth last year.

When the Board of Supervisors decides on a final budget, it will use Robinson's proposal as a starting point. The board typically makes changes to the CEO's budget, and this year the heads of various county departments will ask for $4.4 million beyond Robinson's recommendations.

A growing caseload

Health Care Agency Director Michael Powers is asking for the biggest single additional item: $2 million for a new administrative system for the county healthcare plan.

Sheriff Bob Brooks is asking supervisors for $1.4 million on top of Robinson's recommended funding of $115.6 million from the general fund. Close to $1 million would go to start a six-person task force to plan the expansion of the Todd Road Jail near Santa Paula. The county is planning to expand the jail within the next few years.

Brooks also wants money to hire a graffiti investigator in the Camarillo area, a deputy and an investigator in the sexual assault unit, and two forensic lab workers to do alcohol and drug testing.

District Attorney Greg Totten will ask the board to fund three additional prosecutors, one investigator and four other employees. Totten argues that his office does not have the staff to keep up with a growing caseload.

The $4.4 million in additional requests by county departments is low in relative terms. Last year, there were $6.74 million in such "supplemental requests," and in 2006, the figure was $27 million.

Long said she thinks department heads are asking for less because they know there isn't much money to go around.

"The managers are smart," she said. "They know what's going on at the state, and they know we have to be very cautious. For supplementals, we're going to have to see a real necessity."