Politics & Government

Riverside County's Presidential Visit Carries Half-Million Dollar Price Tag

Now that the dust has settled from the departures of President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, there's one main thing left to do-- pay the bills.

Those bills will add up to more than a half-million dollars, according to law enforcement and government officials.  And that's just on the county-level.

According to Riverside County Supervisor John Benoit, the county can expect to be paying out an additional $500,000 for the extra sheriff's staff assigned to help with coordinating the presidential visit.

"It’s an extremely large undertaking that requires large cooperation," Benoit told Patch, while explaining that this is something local jurisdictions are expected to pay for.  "I thought that the law enforcement commitment and the security was executed very well."

"It’s a lot of money," he said, while also pointing out the fact that the visit brought international attention and interest to the Riverside County area, and in Rancho Mirage's Sunnylands in particular.

"I think it put Sunnylands on the map as the western White House and I think we can expect president Obama to visit again and that can’t be anything but positive for the Valley," he said.

[RELATED: 
Sheriff Stan Sniff Praises Work of Department During Presidential Visit]

Sheriff Stan Sniff tells Patch that he thinks the estimated half-million dollars in costs is actually a bit lower than what things will add up to in the end.

Add that to the costs for other police departments who aren't contracted through the sheriff's department-- like Palm Springs PD who helped with things in that city and near the airport and the California Highway Patrol who coordinated the motorcades-- and the amount will rise even more.  

"We are compiling costs this week, but the $500,000 figure is probably a conservative (minimal) figure for planning purposes," Sniff said in an email to Patch on Tuesday.  "Some cities (for their police depts) have also dedicated funds to offset the increased costs for this event touching their communities."
According to Sniff, money for the overtime associated with the presidential visit will come from his current budget.

"These types of mutual aid circumstances are not 'budgeted' for, any more than other types of local disasters are - no federal or state money offsets these mutual aid costs," he said.

On the CHP side, though, the department budgets for their services with escorting dignitaries across the state, according to Benoit, who worked in the California Highway Patrol for 29 years.

"They also had a very significant [monetary] commitment over the weekend," Benoit said.  "But they also expect to have a number of these visits in any given year... so they have a budget for it."

The CHP was responsible for the motorcades escorting both the American and Chinese presidents around town and to the airports; something they've become experts at doing over the years, according to Benoit.

"Of course doing two presidents for the most powerful nations in the word is a little more than they are used to, but as we saw, they were up to the challenge," Benoit said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here