Leaders to start work on budgeting

Supervisors today will hold public hearing for $8.6 billion spending plan for coming year

June means barbecues, beach time and in the halls of Riverside County headquarters, budget season.

A public hearing is scheduled today on the county’s proposed $8.6 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. The hearing will resume Tuesday with the Board of Supervisors having until June 30 to pass the budget.

For the second straight year, the budget is what officials call “structurally balanced.” In other words, its discretionary spending is fully paid for by ongoing discretionary revenue without the need to spend from general fund reserves.

It’s been an elusive goal over the years for supervisors, who had to dip into savings to make ends meet. But by the time the new fiscal year ends in June 2024, those reserves are projected to stand at $555 million, well above the floor set by county policy.

That floor was set when the board was routinely deficit spending, county Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said in a phone interview. Based on Government Finance Officers Association benchmarks, the county should have $615 million in reserves, and the board is working toward meeting that goal, Van Wagenen said. Where’s the the county’s revenue coming from? Rising property values and strong consumer spending have filled county coffers as the county weathered the coronavirus pandemic thanks to almost $1 billion in two rounds of federal COVID-19 relief funds.

That infusion won’t happen again, and while the county’s short-term finances look good, “the long-term economic forecast remains unclear,

and we are beginning to see local revenue growth slow and flatten,” Van Wagenen wrote in the budget’s introductory memo.

California’s state budget deficit could have “significant implications ... on our community’s well-being and progress,” he added.

Budget grows

The $8.6 billion spending plan represents a 15% increase from the current $7.6 billion budget. The previous budget was $6.9 billion, while the fiscal 2017-18 budget called for $5.5 billion in spending.

Rising labor costs are the biggest driver in the new budget. In recent years, supervisors

agreed to union contracts that raised pay and benefits in an effort to recruit and retain employees.

Riverside County is America’s 10th-most-populated county and continues to grow, adding 30,000 people a year, Van Wagenen said.

Mostly on autopilot

Riverside County residents might think the five supervisors touch every cent of the budget. Wrong.

Most of the money is federal and state money automatically ticketed for various programs. While the board technically approves the entire budget, supervisors have direct control of roughly $1.1 billion in discretionary revenue, and much of what will take place today and Tuesday involves divvying up a $20 million fund to

supplement county departments’ budgets.

There’s also $10 million set aside to tackle infrastructure needs in the county’s unincorporated communities, many of which lack proper drainage or sidewalks.

Law enforcement

A big question every budget cycle is how much additional money District Attorney Mike Hestrin and Sheriff Chad Bianco will seek from supervisors.

Usually, the sheriff and DA want more than what’s budgeted for their departments. Bianco has said the budget has never truly reflected the cost of law enforcement while Hestrin has decried what he said are state mandates that mean more work for his prosecutors.

As elected officials, Bianco and Hestrin don’t have to worry about supervisors firing them, which gives them more latitude to speak bluntly and publicly criticize the board if they don’t get what they want. But in recent years, supervisors touting a pro-public safety message on the campaign trail have allocated more money to the sheriff and DA.

It’s not just the sheriff and DA who are expected to ask for more money.

Van Wagenen said he expects code enforcement, the fire department and social services, among other departments, to see more funding in the new budget.

Fire and animal control

Concerned the wet winter spawned thick vegetation that could fuel wildfires, Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said he’s looking at boosting firefighter staffing. Specifically, Jeffries wants to add a fourth firefighter to a fire engine at fire stations near areas where wildland blends into more urban spaces.

Another item that might get funded is the county’s the San Jacinto Animal Valley Campus. Budget cuts closed it to the public in 2020, forcing residents to go as far as Thousand Palms and Jurupa Valley to claim lost pets.