The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $10.3 billion proposed budget, a 3.4% increase from last year’s adopted budget. The budget, scheduled to be formally adopted June 23, is set to be the county’s second deficit budget in a row.
“This year, county departments submitted approximately $700 million in requests for additional discretionary general fund revenue above our existing funding levels,” County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said at the June 8 public hearing. “At the same time, the county continues to face rising labor costs, health care expenses, infrastructure needs, technology investments, and an increasing demand for services.”
In an effort to balance those competing realities, Van Wagenen said the county was presenting a budget that reflected a series of “deliberate decisions” to preserve core services, maintain reserves, avoid layoffs and start addressing the deficit…