RivCo Supervisors Sign off on Proposed Budget, Rate Hikes

By City News Service:

The Board of Supervisors this week tentatively authorized increases in fees charged by Riverside County agencies to provide legal, custodial, administrative and other services to fellow agencies, though one supervisor questioned why one of the heftiest expenses in the fee structure -- liability costs -- showed no sign of leveling off.

“Something has got to change,” Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said. “We’re shelling out tens of millions of dollars that we desperately need, and there’s no solution in sight.”

Jeffries noted during the hearing on internal service fees that the board had approved a policy in November 2014 that required multiple steps to reduce the county’s liability exposure. Yet the proposed 2016-17 fiscal year funding allocation for payouts on lawsuits had increased 39 percent, from $33.9 million to $47.1 million.

“That policy required the Executive Office and the Office of County Counsel to investigate claims and resolutions to ensure there are adequate measures to reduce liability claims against this county,” Jeffries said. “I haven’t seen a report on that. We need to do whatever is necessary to figure out how to reduce this expense. We can’t sustain this.”

County Chief Executive Officer Jay Orr replied that the liability overhang is “on our radar” and that a report would be made to the board, without specifying a date.

Jeffries also raised concerns about the proposed $89.1 million budget for the Department of Information Technology in 2016-17. The spending plan represents a modest 2 percent increase from the current fiscal year. However, the supervisor was unhappy that he’d heard nothing about cost savings from the IT restructuring that began in 2012.

The department is on its third chief since the overhaul began. Last year, the board approved fee hikes to support the agency’s reorganization, but Jeffries complained he’d heard little since then.

“There is no mention of efficiencies in this report,” he told his colleagues. “If we’ve done it, we should highlight it. We need to know what has been done to improve efficiencies.”

Orr said IT Director Steve Reneker was working to “bend that (cost) curve down” and would be delivering a presentation to the board in the next several months.

The modified internal service fees that board members tentatively approved for implementation on July 1 were recommended by a Rate Review Advisory Council, composed of representatives from the Riverside County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder’s Office, Auditor-Controller’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, Sheriff’s Department, Office of the Treasurer-Tax-Collector and other agencies.

Department heads pointed to higher salary and benefits costs as the principal reason for elevating rates, though in some cases rising supplies and insurance liability costs were factors.

Under the rate revamp, the Office of County Counsel will be charging $178 per hour for county agencies to use attorneys’ services. The current cost is $174.

Another relatively small rate increase was approved for custodial services, supplied by the Economic Development Agency, which will charge $41.39 per hour for janitors. The current rate is $39.41.

The EDA will also have leeway to increase the per hour cost for building maintenance personnel from $75.28 to $79.02.

The Department of Purchasing & Fleet Services received the go-ahead to hike its administrative fee for services on county-owned vehicles from $25.20 to $28 per month. The agency will also be assessing an entirely new fee of $68.25 per hour for pick-up and delivery of supplies.

Departments that are locked into ISF agencies’ services must cover expenses via their board-approved budgets.

(Image via Shutterstock)