Sheriff: No Layoffs With Adjusted Budget

The 500 layoffs planned for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department will now be zero after a final budget hearing today before the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Stan Sniff said.

The board agreed to supply additional funds to each public safety agency, reducing the likelihood of major job cuts, City News Service reported.

"I think we can skate through without doing layoffs,'' said Sheriff Stan Sniff. "We're going to be on the margin. But we see a patch of blue out there we can work through.''

While the sheriff doubted any of the 500 planned layoffs would be necessary, he did say attrition would continue, with positions not being filled and patrols decreasing in the unincorporated communities. Near Murrieta's borders, communities such as French Valley and Winchester are under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff' Department.

The county's deficit-reduction plan calls for across-the-board spending cuts, with some departments' general fund appropriations shrinking 25 percent to plug a drain on county reserves, according to City News Service.   

The Executive Office is holding the Sheriff's Department to a $224.7 million spending threshold in 2011-12, roughly $11.4 million--or 5 percent--below the current-year allocation of discretionary revenue.

In April, Sniff estimated the effect of the county cut, plus higher operational costs in the jails and increased personnel costs would put him $60 million in the red.

However, that amount was chopped to $17 million after accounting for savings from the county's imposition of a new contract on the deputies' union, attrition, the new city of Jurupa Valley's law enforcement contract and other changes.   

To further trim the sheriff's overage, the board indicated today it would appropriate $13.5 million in Proposition 172 safety sales tax revenue. The funds come from a total $22 million the county anticipates receiving this year and next.

While Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins did not anticipate significant layoffs to meet his department's budget target, he did not rule them out.   

The agency was originally girding for a $9.9-million loss based on a 5-percent cut in general fund appropriations. But with the board's tentative approval of a $1.1-million Proposition 172 distribution, a $2.4-million commitment of reserves and pension benefits concessions by the firefighters' union, the deficit is now closer to $3 million, City News Service reported.

Hawkins said staffing levels at fire stations in 15 unincorporated communities, including French Valley, Glen Oaks, Lake Riverside and Nuevo, would be lowered to stay within budget.

"These are tough times,'' the chief said. "But I think we can find success and continue to balance the public safety needs of Riverside County with funding needs.''

The county's reserves have been sliced in half over the last three years to cover shortfalls triggered by the downward spiraling economy. The Inland Empire ranks among the top 10 regions nationally in foreclosure activity.    

The fiscal blueprint pieced together today will remain a working product through Sept. 13, when the budget will be formally adopted, according to the Executive Office.

City News Service contributed to this report.