A proposed $7.45 billion budget containing higher appropriations requests for Riverside County public safety and other agencies — but no significant revenue challenges — in the 2022-23 fiscal year will be reviewed Monday by the Board of Supervisors.
” We must achieve fiscal stability to support individuals, families and businesses, and do so without being vulnerable to sharp economic downturns,” county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen said in an introduction to the budget blueprint.
“This budget represents $7.5 billion in spending … to help us achieve these goals. These expenditures will ensure that county departments have the resources they need to continue to deliver vital services and move us closer to the future we envision.”
The proposed 2022-23 budget is roughly 8% bigger than the one adopted for the current fiscal year, 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 that 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 $480 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, awarded in the current fiscal year, which followed roughly $500 million in 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security Act allocations.
Van Wagenen noted that the federal infusions were not factors in balancing the county budget.
However, in addition to paying for housing relief, homeless assistance, jobs training and similar programs, the money has been applied to capital improvements that otherwise might have required outlays directly from the General Fund or other local revenue sources.
Salaries and benefits comprise almost half of the proposed appropriations for 2022-23, and officials pointed out that union-negotiated pay, pension and other hikes negotiated in contracts were partly responsible for higher General Fund outlays.
The largest share of the appropriations pie — 25.7% — is slated for county-provided health and hospital services, with public safety agencies following close behind at 24.2%.
Public safety will be at the forefront of the board’s budget hearings, beginning with the District Attorney’s Office.
D.A. Mike 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 is recommending a maximum $167 million to hold the line on spending.
Hestrin and his staff noted that the agency is under pressure with limited resources and unceasing state mandates favoring re-adjudications and re-sentencings, forcing prosecutors to, in essence, retry cases that have already been disposed.
The county’s top prosecutor cited examples like Senate Bill 775, requiring attempted murder and manslaughter convictions to be “retroactively” invalidated with new re-sentencing proceedings whenever revised legislative criteria can be applied; or SB 567 and Assembly Bill 124, which require aggravating factors to be reconsidered in cases eligible for re-sentencing; or Assembly Bill 1540, which permits “successive re-sentencing proceedings” based on California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation requests and presumptions that didn’t exist when a defendant was originally found guilty.
“These new laws build on the legislative requirements to re-evaluate and re-litigate tens of thousands of post-conviction cases, in addition to the more than 53,000 felony and misdemeanor cases the office normally reviews each year,” Hestrin said.
Fire Chief Bill Weiser submitted a budget request seeking $505.8 million, compared to $367.86 million in 2021-22, but the Executive Office recommended $419 million in appropriations.
The county’s direct appropriations for fire operations, which are managed by Cal Fire, are not as critical because the fire department’s revenue streams originate from multiple sources, including 20 municipalities within the county that contract for county emergency services.
The county also pays the state a contract fee.
Weiser said that field equipment expenses have risen, and higher costs have been incurred by converting three wildland fire stations to municipal stations. There was no indication that the department would be unable to manage higher costs at the proposed appropriations levels.
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 General Fund appropriations. The Executive Office recommended $901.5 million.
Bianco and his staff noted in budget documents that the agency experienced a net decline of 121 positions in the current fiscal year, though the number of sworn personnel who left wasn’t specified. The sheriff said the phased opening of the Benoit Detention Center in Indio and efforts to deploy sufficient patrol personnel in unincorporated communities are ongoing and escalating cost pressures.
The sheriff has a bevy of sub-funds and accounts with revenues that help sustain departmental operations year-round, such as via booking fees and asset forfeitures.
The board must adopt a tentative budget by June 30, and formal adoption of the county’s spending plan must be in place by Oct. 2.