Riverside County Works To Balance Budget

RIVERSIDE -Despite starting the fiscal year with a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is on track to end the year in the black, provided an unforeseen event or the county’s financial woes don’t get in the way.

According to sheriff’s officials, a hiring freeze, employee attrition and a cap on promotions, as well as federal stimulus funds, have contributed to closing the department’s$22.3 million budget gap.

Sheriff Stan Sniff said his department’s budget should be balanced by June 30, the official end of the 2009-10 fiscal year.

“The department is pleased and very proud that we are able to erase that deficit,” Sniff said. “Every one of the county’s various departments have been challenged, but we are a massive part of the county budget.”

Sniff pointed out that public safety personnel have a “critical first responder” role that sets them apart, but acknowledged the sheriff’s department is “part of the larger `county family.”‘

“We have been mindful of our fiscal responsibility to be as conservative as we possibly could to avoid harm to other county operations, without jeopardizing our public safety commitment,” Sniff said.

According to sheriff’s officials, the balanced budget does not factor in the potential costs of opening new cell blocks at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

The current fiscal year cost to open the new units at the Smith facility is approximately $13 million, according to the Executive Office.

County Executive Officer Bill Luna proposed tapping reserve funds to cover additional public safety costs, but the board was divided, voting to revisit the matter during its midyear budget update Feb. 9.

The new jail cells are slated to open sometime in March. Sniff has previously suggested a “phased-in” opening that might make the operation less expensive at the outset.

According to Sniff, a major emergency might strain his department’s budget, pushing it back into the red as more deputies are activated for overtime work, and he said further declines in Proposition 172 funding could also complicate matters.