Totten

Here we conclude that the electorate cannot, by initiative, in a general law county, enact an ordinance prescribing minimum future annual budgets for county public safety agencies. Such an ordinance exceeds the electorate’s initiative power and is constitutionally invalid.

The Board of Supervisors of the County of Ventura appeals from a stipulated judgment entered in favor of respondent officials of Ventura County public safety agencies: Gregory Totten, District Attorney of the County of Ventura, and Bob Brooks, Sheriff of the County of Ventura. Additional respondents are the City of Thousand Oaks and Citizens for a Safe Ventura County. Appellant contests the portion of the judgment upholding the validity of sections 4 and 5 of initiative Ordinance No. 4088 (hereafter the Ordinance). These two sections establish a minimum annual budget for Ventura County’s public safety agencies. The sections usurp the board of supervisors’ exclusive statutory power to adopt a budget by depriving it of the discretion to provide a lower level of funding.

Although the instant appeal involves the expenditure of money, it concerns an issue far greater than a monetary turf war between public…