All five Riverside County supervisors, as well as several other elected county officials, will have their pay cut by 10 percent as a way to help ease their agency’s financial woes and possibly head off a potential budget crisis.

Supervisors Roy Wilson and Marion Ashley formally sought the reduction at last week’s board meeting.

During that meeting and in subsequent days, various board members and other elected county officials also decided to take a cut, according to county officials.

Supervisor John Tavaglione, who was traveling on county business and missed last week’s board meeting, asked county administrators to cut his pay as well.

With that request, Chairman Jeff Stone and supervisors Wilson, Tavaglione, Ashley and Bob Buster agreed to each take a $14,300 pay cut, which is equal to 10 percent of their annual salary.

"Leadership starts at the top," said Stone, who represents the Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, San Jacinto and Hemet areas. "We need to lead by example and do everything possible to maintain services and save jobs. Hopefully, the economic downturn will be short-lived and we’ll see improvement as soon as possible."

Buster’s sprawling district stretches from Riverside to De Luz and also includes Lake Elsinore, Lakeland Village, Mead Valley and other areas.

Ashley represents Perris, Moreno Valley, Advertisement
Romoland and other adjacent areas.

County supervisors will take steps to formally cut their pay as the budget nears adoption on June 30, spokesman Ray Smith said in a telephone interview.

Those cuts and other deep spending reductions will take effect when the new fiscal year begins July 1.

The economy’s deep slide and the foreclosure crisis will reduce the county’s general revenue by about $130 million in the coming fiscal year, Smith said.

Board members already have authorized Executive Officer Bill Luna to cut salary and benefits for county managers.

Among other elected county officials, Auditor-Controller Robert Byrd, Treasurer-Tax Collector Don Kent and Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward also have asked for similar cuts based on their pay rates.

The cuts would be in place for at least one year and could be renewed year-to-year based on the county’s financial position.

Similar wage reductions could be on tap for other employee classifications as the budget nears adoption, Smith noted.

"We’re running out of time on the budget," Luna said in a county news release. "We’ll go back to the board next week and propose that county managers accept their share of fiscal responsibility. I hope the unions will recognize we are in a crisis and do the same."

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