While the coronavirus pandemic has made a significant impact on Hemet’s 2020-2021 budget, residents were assured by the city manager, staff and council that there will be no furloughs for public safety employees. Police officers received a 6% salary increase in 2020.Chris Lopez, Hemet city manager, said in response to an inquiry by the Valley News, “COVID-19 has had significant impacts to our budget. The financial model presented to the mayor and city council in January 2020 showed that even with Measure U, the city was headed toward fiscal insolvency.“Maintaining existing spending levels from previous years would have depleted all of the city’s reserves including Measure U reserves in just a few years. The COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated that fiscal reality. The approve
