Tentative 2026-27 Riverside County budget leaves some agencies short

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - Riverside County public safety and other agencies will not receive all of the appropriations they requested under the 2026-27 fiscal year budget tentatively approved by the Board of Supervisors today, though the county chief executive officer reiterated that impromptu spending requests will be considered anytime they're submitted.   

"The absence of funding (for some departments) does not mean there's an absence of need,'' CEO Jeff Van Wagenen told the board ahead of its 5-0 vote Tuesday to accept the spending blueprint and close hearings on the proposed budget. "With this budget, we're seeking to avoid layoffs in critical positions ... and also maintain prudent reserves and reduce the structural budget deficit."  

The proposed $10.34 billion budget is slated to be formally approved by the board during its June 23 meeting.   

"I suspect there's probably going to be more pain to come, and borrowing out of our reserves will deplete them,'' Supervisor Chuck Washington said. "We would be in a bad spot. We have to be careful. I'm in full support of the current (appropriations) plan."

Van Wagenen suggested layoffs may be unavoidable in some departments, but he pointed out that the hiring freeze initiated last year will continue, along with ``targeted'' spending cuts and controls, to mitigate deficit spending. According to the CEO, ``just-in-time'' funding will be available to meet specific needs as the board engages in unending ``budget management'' throughout the coming fiscal year.

Following the daylong budget hearing Monday, the Executive Office returned to the board Tuesday with an additional $27.4 million in proposed allocations to at least partially satisfy the round of new requests from agencies.

The augmented outlays include $8.5 million more for the county Sheriff's Department, $678,000 more for the District Attorney's Office and $250,000 more for the Department of Animal Services.

The increased allotment to the sheriff's department remains well below what Sheriff Chad Bianco insisted he needed to preclude deputy layoffs. He told the board Monday that without another $250 million, he'll end up slashing over 600 deputies from payrolls next year and afterward.  

"This is a massive number that we cannot recover from,''  he said. ``The proposed budget for us is absolutely disastrous.''   

Bianco said roughly $138 million of the $250 million request that his staff submitted to the Executive Office for consideration, which wasn't accepted, amounts to ``stay flat funding'' to keep the agency about where it was in staffing during the current fiscal year.

"Achieving these kinds of reductions would require a phased multi- year implementation,'' Bianco said.

He asserted there would be major impacts to unincorporated communities as patrols are taken away to ensure the 17 municipalities that contract with the county for law enforcement services continue to receive protection.   

The sheriff said his current projected budget gap, if unadjusted, erases any potential for fully opening the Benoit Detention Center in Indio, which is barely a quarter occupied due to spending constraints, and there would be little possibility of moving ahead with the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center modernization project, or constructing a new hangar to anchor the sheriff's air fleet at March Air Reserve Base.   

"These are tough budget times,'' Supervisor Jose Medina told Bianco. "The pain needs to be distributed across the county departments. As important as public safety is, it cannot be helped not to feel some of the pain (of spending caps)."

District Attorney Mike Hestrin signaled the need for $14 million above what the Executive Office had proposed for his agency in General Fund appropriations during 2026-27.

He said that amount was necessary to maintain current staffing and cover the costs of concessions in contracts with labor unions, representing "flat funding'' for the next fiscal year.  

Supervisor Manuel Perez advocated for the $250,000 increase in the Department of Animal Services' budget, mainly for continuation of pet adoption campaigns intended to attain a near-term goal of turning the county's shelters into "no kill" facilities, where more than 90% of impounded pets leave alive.  

As it stands now, the county has a projected $66 million structural budget deficit going into 2026-27.

"This is not a budget proposal that funds everything that departments believe they need,'' Van Wagenen told the board. "But we can preserve core services ... and address the structural imbalance (using reserves)."  

The proposed $10.34 billion appropriations plan represents a roughly 3.5% increase from the 2025-26 budget, which totaled $9.98 billion.   

The new 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 and 7% for agencies dedicated to various governmental operations, such as the Office of County Counsel.   

The county's composite reserves should top out at $650 million by the start the new fiscal year, which officially begins July 1.  

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.