Board Set to Formally Approve 2025-26 Riverside County Budget

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - The Board of Supervisors is slated today to approve
a provisional budget for fiscal year 2025-26, which includes a targeted hiring
freeze in Riverside County government to keep a lid on spending in the face of
a budget gap.
  

The new fiscal year starts on July 1.
  

County CEO Jeff Van Wagenen told the board during budget hearings
earlier this month that, while excess costs will require tapping $73 million
from the county reserve pool, a number of funding necessities will have to be
placed on hold for ``just-in-time'' consideration, as discretionary revenue
builds throughout 2025-26.
  

``We're recommending a hiring freeze for all departments that receive
discretionary fund revenue,'' the CEO said. ``The freeze ... will require (some
departments) to shrink by attrition. Revenue is not decreasing across the
system, but we are seeing it flatten and go down in certain areas.''
  

The last payroll pause to rein in spending occurred in 2016-17, and
Van Wagenen said that action succeeded in saving the equivalent of $40 million
to $50 million in today's dollars.
  

The current deficit stems from ``inflationary pressures, growing labor
costs, unpredictable state and federal funding and necessary investments in
aging infrastructure (that) strain our financial capacity,'' the CEO said in
the 500-plus-page budget book.
  

The aggregate budget for 2025-26 is $9.98 billion, compared to $9.58
billion in 2024-25. The Executive Office is predicting a reserve pool of $655
million. It had been projected at $728 million, but the total will have to be
pared down to fix the gap.
  

Payrolls continue to consume half of outlays under the budget plan.
The county employs 25,632 people on a regular or rotating temporary basis
  

The following departments will be exempt from the freeze: Animal
Services, Assessor-Clerk-Recorder, Auditor, Board staff, Public Social
Services, District Attorney's Office, Registrar of Voters, Riverside University
Health System, Sheriff and Treasurer-Tax Collector.
  

Sheriff Chad Bianco complained during the budget hearing that the
proposed appropriation for sheriff's operations ``falls woefully short'' of
what would be needed. The sheriff's department will end the current fiscal year
$10 million in the red, and the proposed ``flatline'' spending plan for 2025-26
would put the agency $76 million in the hole, he said.
  

Unlike in previous budget hearings, the sheriff emphasized the need to
make the Benoit Detention Center in Indio fully operational. Only one-third
of the facility, which was completed in the previous decade, is functional.
Undersheriff Don Sharp said about $32 million would be required to complete a
two-phase activation of the jail in the coming fiscal year.
  

Other costs weighing on the department include ballooning labor and
pension expenses stemming from the county's agreement with the Riverside
Sheriffs' Association, the collective bargaining unit representing deputies, as
well as court security expenses, the anticipated agreement with the Law
Enforcement Management Unit, and internal service obligations, such as for
maintenance of facilities.
  

The board obligated no funds in the budget to fully open the Benoit
Detention Center.
  

District Attorney Mike Hestrin acknowledged during the hearing that
his office continues to contend with heavy case loads, but the agency has
remained within spending limits, and he expected to end the current fiscal year
in the black.
  

He asked for an additional $1.4 million over what the Executive Office
recommended in the office's 2025-26 spending plan, and the board acceded.
  

Fire Department Chief Bill Weiser requested an ``augmentation'' of $6
million in the agency's 2025-26 appropriations plan outlined by the Executive
Office. The funding would be roughly split between equipment outlays and new
staffing expenses. The board agreed to $1.85 million, and the remaining needs
will be met by just-in-time funding.
  

More than two-thirds of the county budget is composed of programmed
spending, including federal and state earmarks for specific uses, along with
grants and related external source revenue. The board has little control over
those dollars.
  

Direct property taxes remain the county's largest source of
discretionary income. They rose to $574 million in 2024-25, compared to $542.6
million in 2023-24, according to figures. The projection is for a $54 million,
or 10%, jump in the next fiscal year.
  

There are more than three dozen county agencies. The Department of
Public Social Services consistently requires the highest level of
appropriations of any of them. For 2025-26, DPSS, which is an umbrella for a
range of programs, including dependent children, foster care, adult protection
and welfare benefits, sought $1.63 billion. It's expected to receive the full
amount.

  

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