RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Board of Supervisors today signaled that $27 million in additional appropriations will be accepted as part of the proposed $7.45 billion 2022-23 budget, which is slated for final consideration next week.
County CEO Jeff Van Wagenen brought forward the proposed new allocations following budget hearings Monday and offered to incorporate them into the final spending blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
In a 4-0 vote — with Chairman Jeff Hewitt absent — the board authorized Executive Office staff to make the changes and resubmit them for the supervisors’ meeting on June 21, when the new budget is slated to be tentatively approved.
Van Wagenen said the higher appropriations will be covered by discretionary income.
The CEO on Monday struck a cautionary note, saying “we have to protect and preserve our reserves” amid concerns about a turn in the nation’s economy, with unknowns on the horizon, including the threat from galloping inflation.
The total proposed budget for county government in 2022-23 is roughly 8% larger than the current fiscal year budget, which totaled $6.88 billion. The new budget boasts just over $1 billion in anticipated discretionary revenue, compared to $971 million that swelled county coffers in 2021-22.
The county reserve pool is predicted to reach $368 million by the start of 2022-23, compared to $284 million now.
Executive Office staff indicated property tax receipts, sales and use tax receipts, as well as redevelopment asset liquidation revenues all increased in the current fiscal year.
The county received almost $500 million in 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security Act allocations and another $480 million in 2021 American Rescue Plan Act money, and Van Wagenen acknowledged that just under 10% of the federal infusions would be applied for budget stabilization. The funds have been used for homeless and rental assistance programs, along with other social welfare efforts, but they’ve also been appropriated for capital improvement projects.
On Monday, District Attorney Mike Hestrin said that the D.A.’s office would need an additional $3.6 million to keep from running into the red and maintain baseline operations in the next fiscal year.
“As more people pour into Riverside County, we have problems on the horizon,” he told the board.
Hestrin submitted a proposed budget seeking $174 million in 2022-23, compared to $158.53 million approved in the current fiscal year. The Executive Office agreed to the $3.6 million request.
Hestrin noted that the D.A.’s office is under pressure from unceasing state mandates favoring re-adjudications and re-sentencings, forcing prosecutors to revisit cases that have already been disposed.
The county’s top prosecutor cited the latest example, Senate Bill 483, which permits inmates to petition for a re-sentencing if their convictions included three-year enhancements for prior offenses, mostly related to drug trafficking.
Of all the county public safety agencies, the Sheriff’s Department requires the greatest General Fund support, receiving $885.48 million in 2021-22. Sheriff Chad Bianco submitted a budget request seeking $950 million in appropriations. The Executive Office recommended $901 million. However, the revised allocation formula drawn up by Van Wagenen and his staff would include $10 million more in funding for the sheriff.
Bianco said shortfalls can be managed, but doing so will require the department to continue to “operate like we’re one of the smallest” sheriff’s agencies in the state, instead of the second-largest.
Bianco told the board that the department has benefited from increasing numbers of “lateral hires,” or recruiting law enforcement personnel from other agencies, to swell the patrol ranks.
According to the sheriff, he needs more funding to establish the planned Lake Mathews station, which would serve multiple communities directly, including El Cerrito, Gavilan Hills, Temescal Valley and Woodcrest, where patrol personnel from three surrounding stations are dispatched, impacting response times.
The phased opening of the Benoit Detention Center in Indio remains a distant goal, with less than one-third of the jail’s inmate beds available due to a lack of staff.
“There’s no telling what can be thrown at us and what we’ll have to address in the next couple of years,” Bianco said.
Fire Chief Bill Weiser requested an additional $2.57 million in Proposition 172 public safety sales tax revenue, and Van Wagenen said that request would be met under the revised formula.
The Executive Office has recommended a total $419 million in appropriations for the county’s fire operations, which are managed by Cal Fire. The fire department relies on a contract fee paid by the county, as well as revenue streams from the 20 municipalities within the county that contract for county emergency services, to cover costs.
Weiser said the additional money would help cover expenses tied to converting three wildland fire stations — Cabazon, Cherry Valley and Poppet Flats — to municipal stations. Additional funds are also required to hire two more fire marshals, purchase an excavator and modernize classrooms at the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center in Riverside.
Van Wagenen said the increased appropriations going into the county spending plan also include $5 million more for the recently established Unincorporated Communities Fund, and $300,000 for the Department of Animal Services, which has struggled with deficits over the last decade.
Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc.
CNS-06-14-2022 14:50
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