Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco
Valley News/Shane Gibson
In a 4-1 vote, the Board of Supervisors last week approved a $6.88 billion budget for Riverside County government in fiscal year 2021-22, incorporating many of the funding increases sought by public safety agencies.
Following budget hearings earlier this month, supervisors generally agreed June 29, that $16.9 million in additional allocations would be required to shore up multiple departments, largely in the public safety sphere.
Only Supervisor Jeff Hewitt voted in opposition to the budget, reiterating concerns he expressed on June 15 that insufficient attention was being paid to the county's $3.6 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
“There's not even a token sign here of one of our largest priorities,” Hewitt said ahead of the vote. “We need to address this pension crisis a
