County execs hit paydirt

Nearly a year after Los Angeles County supervisors restructured the county's top executive office, vowing to boost accountability and efficiency, taxpayer advocates are decrying a swollen budget and hefty salary hikes for a host of new deputy CEOs and staff. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

The office budget surged nearly 50 percent from $27.7 million in 2006-07 to $41.2 million this year, and five new deputy CEOs draw annual salaries of more than $200,000 each. Meanwhile, each deputy's executive secretary makes $73,000 a year or more.

"My sense is that if you ask the average taxpayer in the county if they favor restructuring government, they would say yes - if the restructuring is going to reduce the expenses of government, reduce the bureaucracy and actually make things function more efficiently," California Taxpayers' Association spokesman David Kline said. "This seems to be heading in exactly the opposite direction. When government talks about restructuring, it always seems to lead to more costs, more overhead and more taxpayer dollars."

But county officials