RIVERSIDE - Despite clashes over the reallocation of funds to bolster public safety agencies and worries about the consequences of the state's financial quagmire, Riverside County supervisors Tuesday approved a $5.08 billion budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

The 5-0 vote came after more than two hours of debate and public comments, much of which centered on pay and benefits concessions the county is seeking from three labor unions, as well as the use of reserves to make up revenue shortfalls in the Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's Office.

Supervisor Bob Buster complained the county's $50.6 million structural budget deficit was partly the result of the public safety departments balking at 10 percent across-the-board spending cuts that other departments implemented at the board's behest.

"We ... increased our imbalance after insisting on fiscal discipline," Buster said. "It's completely ridiculous. I've never seen anything that so insults the whole budget process ... We are sparing certain favored departments from obvious retrenchment."

More than $20 million was appropriated to cover deficits in the sheriff's and District Attorney's Office budgets, according to Executive Office documents.

Board Chairman Jeff Stone argued the use reserves to maintain public safety services and avoid laying off deputies was necessary.

"Public safety needs to be number one," Stone said. "There's a fundamental difference between the sheriff's department and other agencies in this county: These men and women put their lives on the line to make sure we're protected."

Stone said without the additional funding for the sheriff's department, nearly 500 deputies would have been laid off and the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning would have been closed "when it's already filled to capacity."

Buster said the Sheriff's Department and District Attorney's Office "ramped up" hiring for five years.

"They've been given everything and more. They should be the departments now with the flexibility to reduce just 10 percent (from their budgets). But that's not happening," Buster said.

The county's discretionary income -- including property tax revenue, sales receipts and investment earnings -- is down $130 million because of the economic trough, according to the Executive Office.

The new fiscal year begins Wednesday, and nearly 200 layoffs are expected in the coming months in the Animal Services, Child Support Services, Human Resources, Mental Health and Public Health departments.

The initial projection was for nearly 1,000 job cuts.

However, because the county instituted spending cuts, dipped into reserves, ordered a hiring freeze and scaled down departmental managers' benefits -- with all of the supervisors and elected county officials

voluntarily taking pay cuts -- funding for hundreds of positions slated for the chopping block was tentatively restored.

The Executive Office warned that much of next year's budget savings depends heavily on union employees conceding to a 10 percent reduction in pay and benefits.

Negotiations between the county and Service Employees International Union, Local 721, the Riverside Sheriff's Association and the Deputy District Attorneys Union continue. The deadline for closing new labor contracts is July 28.

"This budget incorporates the general fund savings that would result from settlements that reduce personnel costs by 10 percent," Executive Office documents state.

"In the event that agreements fall short ... managers in general fund departments will be expected to make up the difference through operational changes or layoffs."

Several hundred members of SEIU, clad in purple T-shirts with their union's logo printed on the front and back, showed up for the board meeting, with speakers asking that the supervisors not insist that county employees make salary and benefits concessions without first considering other cost-reduction

measures.

"San Bernardino County has been able to shut down on Fridays without any adverse effects," said Jill Johnson-Young, a Child Protective Services worker. "We can save $200,000 by not putting lights on the dome (of the new District Attorney's Office Tower) down the street. How about charging inmates for the cost of their daily (medical) care?

"Don't cut our staff and put people at risk of losing their homes."

Mark Grays, a registered nurse at a county medical facility, felt the county Human Resources Department was stonewalling negotiations over a new labor agreement.

"We will stand fast and continue to negotiate for the county to save money in other ways besides slashing membership," Grays said. "We bring things across the table, and they're just rejected without any reason why."

The union has proposed a cost-saving strategy that includes more telecommuting, greater use of alternative work schedules, turning out the lights in empty offices and seeking more federal stimulus funds.

Many of the proposals paralleled "best practices" recommendations that Stone made in February. The board chairman noted today that many of those ideas had not yet been acted on.

"I see many of you here on your own time fighting for what is just for your selves," Stone told the crowd. "And you're fighting for something good.

But we're experiencing extraordinary economic times, unlike anything I've seen in my lifetime. The bottom line is, we have significant decreases in revenue outside our control."

The entire board extended invitations to reopen negotiations early with three other collective bargaining units whose members have contracts up for renewal in the next three years.

"It's imperative to get the other unions at the table to take comparable reductions (in benefits)," Supervisor Roy Wilson said. "We need to make sure we have equity."

Buster agreed the earlier union representatives come to the table "the better things are for everybody."

The board has approved early retirement packages for more than 500 employees in the Probation and Sheriff's departments and the District

Attorney's Office.

If all eligible employees opted for an early exit from county service, the cumulative net savings to the county -- provided many of the positions are not refilled -- could range into the tens of millions of dollars annually, according to the Human Resources Department.

The 2009-10 budget contains no funding for new capital projects, suggesting plans for the proposed central county hub jail in Whitewater may be on hold for the next year or two.

Roughly $106 million in reserves Advertisement
are built into the budget, but the Executive Office cautioned that $45 million should be set aside specifically to address shortfalls arising from the state's deficit reduction plans, leaving the county with about $60 million for discretionary purposes.

Supervisor John Tavaglione, like Buster, initially opposed the final budget draft, saying he wanted three weeks to see what kind of budget state legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ultimately agree on.

Tavaglione worried that the state's 2009-10 fiscal blueprint will involve withholding tens of millions of dollars in funds designated for state-mandated programs that are run by the county.

"I'm fearful any amount we agree on today will be setting a false hope," Tavaglione said. "There are so many moving pieces. What is uncertain is, what are we going to lose from what they're going to take? There's too much at risk now."

According to the Executive Office, the county should prepare for the state to seize Proposition 42 funds for local transportation projects, as well as a large portion of Prop 1A revenue for state-mandated welfare programs.

According to Riverside County Chief Financial Officer Paul McDonnell, the state may start issuing IOUs to counties from which it withholds funds.

"That will stretch our internal funding capabilities," McDonnell told the board. "We can't float the state forever."

Supervisor Marion Ashley said the county should not take its cues from the state.

"If we wait for Sacramento, we may be waiting until Christmas," Ashley said. "We have a good plan. We can amend and adjust to whatever the state does."

Wilson agreed, proposing that the board reassess the new budget at its July 21 meeting. "We can bring it back to debate and amend it," he said.

On that motion, the board unanimously approved the budget.

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RIVERSIDE – Many key budget pieces must fall into place if Riverside County is to avoid the massive job cuts originally envisioned for the coming fiscal year, officials said on Monday.

The first steps call for the county to dip into its reserve funds and hold the line on spending in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Secondly, the county must extract pay and benefit concessions from its labor unions and somehow prevent the state from gutting funding for mandated programs.

On Tuesday, the county’s Executive Office is slated to present a final revised budget for the new fiscal year that indicates nearly 200 layoffs will be needed to prevent the county's estimated $50.6 million budget gap from growing any bigger.

The initial projection was for nearly 1,000 job cuts.

After wringing out 10 percent spending cuts from most county departments' budgets, shifting more than $20 million in reserves to cover shortfalls, instituting a hiring freeze and scaling down departmental managers' benefits -- with all of the supervisors and elected county officials

voluntarily taking pay cuts -- funding for hundreds of positions slated for the chopping block has been tentatively restored, budget documents show.

However, 175 jobs are still expected to be eliminated, including positions in the departments of Animal Services, Child Support Services, Human Resources, Mental Health and Public Health.

The Executive Office said some jobs are unsupportable without state funds, and the cash-strapped state government appears unlikely to continue allocating the money some programs require.

With an estimated $130 million loss in county general fund discretionary income due to falling property tax revenues, sales receipts and investment earnings, the board directed departments to implement across-the-board, 10 percent spending cuts for the coming fiscal year.

Many of the proposals paralleled "best practices" recommendations that board Chairman Jeff Stone -- who represents the Menifee, Murrieta and Temecula areas -- made in February.

With the exception of the public safety departments, welfare services and the Planning Department, county agencies generally met the target.

During budget hearings in May, Sheriff Stan Sniff characterized the anticipated $65 million cut in his department's budget as "cutting into muscle and bone."

Heeding warnings that a jail facility would have to be closed and deputies taken off the streets to meet the budget target, the board directed the Executive Office to mitigate the impact on the sheriff's department. About $22 million was shifted to cover the department's 2009-10 expenses, according to budget documents.

At this juncture, the number of authorized positions (in the sheriff's department) has not been reduced," the Executive Office documents state. `If spending reductions are not made, the board will have no choice but to reduce authorized positions."

The District Attorney's Office and Fire Department were also aided by budget adjustments, reducing the likelihood of fire stations being shuttered or prosecutors being let go, at least for now, the documents indicate.

Riverside County's proposed 2009-10 fiscal year budget is $5.08 billion, about four percent more than the year before. Budget hearings are expected to last all morning and possibly into the afternoon on Tuesday.

The Executive Office warned that much of next year's budget savings depends heavily on union employees conceding to a 10 percent reduction in pay and benefits. Negotiations between the county and Service Employees International Union, Local 721, the Riverside Sheriff's Association and the Deputy District Attorneys Union continue.

The deadline for closing new labor contracts is July 28.

The board has approved early retirement packages for more than 500 employees in the Probation and Sheriff's departments and the District Attorney's Office. If all eligible employees opted for an early exit from county service, the cumulative net savings to the county -- provided many of the positions are not refilled -- could range into the tens of millions of dollars annually, according to the Human Resources Department.

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