Banning, Beaumont Supervisor: $5.43 Billion Proposed County Budget is 'Good Path Forward'

By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

Riverside, CA— Riverside County supervisors Tuesday tentatively approved a $5.43 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2016-17 and set a floor on reserves to prevent spending below a level that risks putting the county in financial straits.

"I think we're on a good path. It may be uncomfortable, but it's a good path forward," Supervisor Marion Ashley said prior to the 4-1 vote in favor of the spending blueprint.

Formal adoption of the budget is slated for July 26.

Supervisor John Tavaglione cast the dissenting vote, mostly to protest the procedural aspects of the budget planning that began in February.

Tavaglione expressed dismay that the board intended to leave open additional opportunities for changes to the budget by deferring formal adoption another month.

"We've been through this before; it's not panic mode," the supervisor said. "I've never seen a circus like this my entire life. It's embarrassing for staff, who have spent weeks and months working on this. Now we're telling them to take another three weeks and look at it some more? We should be embarrassed."

Supervisor Kevin Jeffries perceived the criticism as a direct response to his submission Tuesday of a list of prospective budget-cutting ideas.

Jeffries said he was inspired to hammer out the proposals after learning that San Bernardino County was increasing its reserve pool to $407 million, while the plan accepted by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors calls for depleting reserves from $201 million to $150 million over the next three fiscal years.
The $150 million will serve as a kind of stop-loss point, below which the Executive Office recommended that the board not go.

"I'm not optimistic the plan we have is sustainable and is going to work," Jeffries said. "There are some things we can't avoid without significant consequences."

His list of potential cuts included lopping $100,000 from the budgets of all supervisorial districts, as well as dropping state and federal lobbyists' contracts and cutting funds for art-related projects.

Ashley said some of the proposals dovetailed with a general cost- containment strategy the board adopted earlier this year.

"We're going to have to work hard to reap savings," he said. "We're just going to have to say 'no' to some spending requests. I see the glass as half full, not half empty. Our economy can grow, and we can provide the services our constituents need."

He noted that when the first budget outlook was issued in February, the projected structural budget deficit was $100 million. It's now down to $60 million and going lower.

Some agency heads want to exceed their previously established spending thresholds to maintain staffing and support existing programs.

Every public safety agency but the fire department is anticipating a funding gap next fiscal year. The sheriff's department will be underfunded by $30 million, according to Sheriff Stan Sniff.

That was the largest projected deficit. District Attorney Mike Hestrin predicted a $19 million shortfall. Chief Probation Officer Mark Hake expected to be $8.3 million in the red, and Public Defender Steve Harmon fretted that without another $2.1 million from the general fund, he would have no alternative but to lay off up to 20 deputy public defenders.

Shortfalls are also plaguing the Riverside University Health System, the Department of Animal Services, the Department of Public Social Services and several other general government departments.

The board indicated it will not grant all of the funding increases. Appropriations will be finalized on July 26.
Discretionary revenue, comprised largely of property tax receipts, is projected to grow only 2 percent -- from $678 million to $735 million -- between the current and next fiscal year, according to the Executive Office.

In a 570-page report to the board, the EO pointed to ballooning detention health expenditures, along with cost-of-living adjustments, merit pay increases and other benefits guaranteed to many of the nearly 23,000 employees under collective bargaining agreements as putting a squeeze on the general fund.

The Executive Office identified actions that would help ease the financial burden, including eliminating a number of vacant unfunded positions, which presently number 7,268, as well as keeping new hires to a minimum and "holding firm on negotiations" with labor unions.

— By City News Service. Image via Shutterstock.