$9.6 Billion In Spending Proposed For RivCo During 2024-25 Fiscal Year

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Riverside County government's budget is balanced as the current fiscal year comes to a close, and the county is going into 2024-25 with increased reserves, but finances may be impacted by the state's deficit, county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen told the Board of Supervisors Monday.

"That's one of the top pressures facing us right now — the state budget deficit," Van Wagenen said at the outset of the county's 2024-25 budget hearings. "The legislative response could mean significant cuts to services. We're working with our departments to manage those. There could be downstream consequences for us."

The California Legislative Analyst's Office reckons the state budget deficit going into 2024-25 to be $68 billion.

Van Wagenen noted that while the county's "revenues are flattening," the budget ending 2023-24 is structurally balanced, and projections are for the same in 2024-25.

One of the bright spots going into the next fiscal year, which officially starts July 1, is the county's reserve pool is expected to hit $698 million, compared to $590 million at the end of 2022-23.

The CEO said the current reserve plateau would translate to nearly two months' worth of funds available to meet all General Fund needs — in case of an emergency and lack of income — "the first time ever we will have met that mark."

The 2024-25 proposed spending blueprint totals $9.6 billion, an 11.1% increase from 2023-24's budget of $7.45 billion.

Executive Office staff estimated county discretionary revenue — which, unlike programmed funding, the board may use for any purpose — will top out at $1.22 billion in the next fiscal year, a $100 million increase over 2023- 24.

Officials anticipated increases in most revenue streams throughout 2024-25, including property tax revenue, motor vehicle-in-lieu of property taxes, interest earnings on treasury pool investments and ongoing income from redevelopment assets, driven in part by inflation.

The heads of county public safety agencies appeared before the board Monday morning to highlight budget concerns. District Attorney Mike Hestrin said he would need an additional $1.2 million over the proposed $207 million budget proposed by the Executive Office, which advises the board.

Hestrin said the D.A.'s office continues to contend with a mountain of mandates from the state, keeping prosecutors and other staff increasingly busy. Among the more difficult has been managing mental health "diversion" hearings, under which defendants can petition for treatment regimens in lieu of criminal penalties.

Hestrin said diversion cases are up 3,393% since 2015. He admitted to the board that utilization of the process is routinely an "off-ramp" for offenders looking for ways to dodge jail or prison.

"Is it abused? Yes," the county's chief prosecutor said.

He noted Senate Bill 1437, which provides opportunities for offenders to be re-sentenced if they can show racial overtones or other factors in their original prison sentences, has also been a heavy load.

The D.A. said the agency will be returning $3 million to the General Fund in the current fiscal year due to spending discipline.

Undersheriff Don Sharp appeared in place of Sheriff Chad Bianco, who was away at an out-of-state conference, and told the board there had been success in "transforming the sheriff's department internally" over the last five years during Bianco's tenure.

"We started the current fiscal year with a $3.8 million deficit, but that has been eliminated," Sharp said.

Among the efficiencies achieved has been an increase in "lateral hires," or recruiting sworn personnel from surrounding counties, sparing the sheriff's department the cost of training, as well as reducing the number of sworn deputies working in the correctional system to less than 5%, making more law enforcement officers available for patrol and other duties.

The sheriff's department initially requested a total budget of $1.15 billion for 2024-25, while the Executive Office recommended $1.09 billion. However, during the hearing, Sharp told the board, "we're not asking for anything additional" in the way of General Fund allocations.

Supervisor Kevin Jeffries pressed him on why the Benoit Detention Center in Indio still remains at only half capacity, and Sharp admitted recruitment to fill posts at the facility has been difficult.

"It's going to require good recruitment and retention of employees who want to go out there," he said. "We're not there yet."

Fire Chief Bill Weiser requested roughly $53 million in allocations above what the Executive Office recommended. The county fire department, which is operated by Cal Fire under a decades-long contract, would need $570 million to cover all foreseeable operational costs in 2024-25, administrators said.

Weiser listed multiple stations in need of replacement and upgrades, as well as the need to expand fire hazard "patrol staffing" and deploy more mitigation units.

Jeffries, a former county firefighter, told the chief his staff needs to "think of ways to come up with new revenue streams" vis-à-vis expenditure requirements and limited available funding.

The chief agreed.

According to the proposed budget, $2.6 billion would be appropriated to the Riverside University Health System, the largest set-aside in the spending plan, at 27% of total expenditures. The outgo would translate to a 5.6% increase in healthcare-oriented obligations.

Public safety agencies would be next, with $2.2 billion in proposed expenditures, 8.5% more than the current year's outlays and 23% of the composite budget, while the social services portfolio would be in line for $2.1 billion in General Fund receipts, also representing an 8.5% increase compared to 2023-24 and comprising 21.4% of the overall budget.

Other components would receive smaller outlays but still receive higher appropriations compared to the current fiscal year.

The budget hearings are scheduled to end Tuesday afternoon.