RivCo Agencies Anticipate Red Ink In First Months Of Fiscal Year

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Multiple Riverside County agencies are staring down deficits, even though they're not even halfway through the 2017-18 fiscal year, making "fiscal discipline" a must in the coming months, according to a report that the Board of Supervisors will review Tuesday.

"Maintaining fiscal discipline is hard and comes with difficult choices," county CEO George Johnson wrote in an introduction to the first- quarter report on 2017-18. "I commend departments for bringing up challenges as soon as possible so we are aware of them now, and for seeking solutions."

In order for the county to remain on a "sound financial footing long- term," collaboration and communication will be key going forward, Johnson said.

The 70-page budget report revealed shortfalls in public safety and the Riverside University Health System, which is facing a $15 million gap as it strains to meet ballooning healthcare demands while taking in smaller disbursements under the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.

Executive Office analysts pointed out that RUHS is trying to adjust to escalating workloads stemming from increased detention health services guaranteed under a consent decree the county accepted to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a Bay Area-based prisoner rights' law firm three years ago.

As expected, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, District Attorney's Office and Office of the Public Defender indicated budget overruns would be unavoidable in 2017-18, according to the report. The agencies went into the fiscal year in the red.

Sheriff's officials anticipated a $9.3 million overrun, which may swell, while the D.A.'s office is contending with a $5 million overage, and the public defender's office is working to find ways of containing a $2.2 million deficit, county officials said.

The PD's office is entirely reliant on general fund support, while the other agencies receive some funding from alternate sources, including by way of fee assessments.

Johnson expressed concern over softening sales tax revenue and "lagging" property tax receipts. He also returned to an issue that had plagued the county throughout the last half of 2016-17 -- the prospect that unsustainable In-Home Supportive Services costs might be shifted from the state to counties.

IHSS is a Medi-Cal program that provides direct assistance to low-income seniors and the disabled who are living independently, including meal preparation, bathing, medication dispensation and other on-site care. There were proposals to make counties pick up the lion's share of IHSS expenses, which would have translated to tens of millions of dollars in additional expenditures for Riverside County.

A deal was struck in the state budget to spare counties a major new cost obligation in 2017-18.

Johnson said despite cautionary signs on the horizon, there is reason for "optimism," as both public safety and general government agencies undertake pilot projects and implement reforms to save money and gain operational efficiencies identified by auditors from Netherlands-based KPMG.

The professional services firm was hired in October 2015 to ferret out opportunities for improving practices in public safety operations and was later retained to do the same throughout county government. The county is set to spend more than $40 million on the KPMG contracts.

"(KPMG's) cost-saving measures are essential to maintaining service levels while containing ongoing spending," Johnson wrote.

Critics, including Sheriff Stan Sniff and Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, have cast doubts that the vaunted savings will materialize.

According to the Executive Office, the county is on track to hold above the board-mandated $150 million in reserves in the current fiscal year -- in spite of the need to drawn down the reserve pool by $53 million to meet some expenses.

One of the biggest cost drivers over the next year will be the phased opening of the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, according to the report. The $333 million facility will eventually be able to house 1,600 inmates. But it remains unclear how the county will staff it as the sheriff struggles to find the money to replace deputies for patrol operations in unincorporated communities.

— By PAUL YOUNG, City News Service / Image via Shutterstock