Supervisors to Tackle Projected Deficit During Fiscal Year Budget Hearings

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - A projected $66 million structural budget deficit
impacting Riverside County government will be top on the Board of Supervisors'
agenda today, when hearings on the proposed 2026-27 fiscal year budget get
underway.
  

``Like many public agencies throughout California and across the
nation, the county is experiencing increasing fiscal pressure as ongoing
expenditure growth continues to outpace recurring discretionary revenues,''
county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen said in an introduction to the budget report that
the board will consider.
  

``The budget reflects a transition from a period of extraordinary
revenue growth to one requiring increased fiscal discipline,'' Van Wagenen
added. ``While the county continues to face rising costs and growing service
demands, prior investments in reserves and prudent financial management provide
the flexibility necessary to navigate current challenges while preserving core
services, advancing strategic priorities and maintaining long-term fiscal
stability.''
  

The proposed appropriations plan for the next fiscal year totals $10.3
billion, a 3.4% increase from the 2025-26 budget, which totaled $9.98 billion.
  

Executive Office staff said the new fiscal year, which officially
starts on July 1, will begin in the red, by a total $66.1 million, unless the
board taps the county reserve pool and implements spending caps on some
agencies to eliminate the imbalance.
  

The board already approved $60 million in reserves to balance the 2025-
26 budget.
  

According to the board schedule, hearings on the proposed 2026-27
budget will start with presentations by public safety agencies Monday morning,
continuing all day with other departments and likely resuming Tuesday afternoon
to wrap up testimony.
  

The new spending blueprint indicated that 30% of allocations would be
dedicated to health and hospital services, followed by 23% for public safety
units, 19% for human services, 11% for public works, 9% for internal support to
departments that have no external revenue generation sources and 7% for
agencies dedicated to various governmental operations.
  

The proposed budget is slated for tentative approval on June 23.
  

The third-quarter report reviewed earlier this week by the board
indicated revenue streams had expanded in a few places, principally property
taxes, which increased $19.8 million above the amount first projected at the
outset of the fiscal year. That will translate to a 3% rise in discretionary
income -- $1.36 billion instead of $1.31 billion -- by the end of 2025-26,
figures showed.
  

The county's composite reserves should reach $650 million at the end
of the current fiscal year. They had been calculated in January to crest at
nearly $700 million, but to plug continuing budget holes, that number no longer
appeared likely.
  

The board formally approved the current budget on June 24, 2025. The
supervisors further approved a tentative hiring freeze for most agencies to put
the brakes on deficit spending.
  

Payrolls continue to consume half of outlays. The county employs over
26,000 people in more than 40 agencies on a regular or rotating temporary
basis.
  

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.
  

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