The Riverside County Supervisors last month unanimously voted to adopt the $10.3 billion budget for fiscal year 2026-27. The budget, which went into effect July 1, is the county’s second deficit budget in a row.
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“This budget reflects difficult choices, but it also reflects confidence — confidence that disciplined decisions today will preserve the County’s long-term stability, protect core services, and position Riverside County to emerge stronger, more resilient, and better prepared for the future that lies ahead,” wrote County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen in his annual budget message.
Those choices include what Van Wagenen described as an “acceptable” structural deficit filled by county reserves and the implementation of financial controls including a hard hiring freeze for general fund-supported departments, limited hiring controls for mission-critical employee classifications and more scrutiny of ongoing spending commitments.
At the June 23 meeting, Van Wagenen said the adopted budget was the exact same as the budget previously approved by the supervisors at the end of the budget hearing on June 9.
The vast majority of the county’s $10.3 billion budget, $8.9 billion, is restricted, meaning it can only be used for specific programs and purposes. The remaining $1.45 billion is discretionary, meaning the county can use that funding as it sees fit.
The budget includes roughly $3.1 billion for health and hospital services, $2.4 billion for public safety, about $2 billion for human services, $1.1 billion for public works and community services, about $953 million for internal services, and about $744 million for finance and government services.
Also included in the approved budget were $20.9 million for augmentation fund requests, which the supervisors allocated during last month’s budget hearings and included $7.4 million in one-time Prop 172 funds; $24 million for the contingency fund, which is reserved for emergency board action; and $15 million for the Unincorporated Communities Initiative, which the supervisors spend throughout the fiscal year.
Prior to the adoption of the budget, the county conducted a two-day budget hearing process following the release of its recommended budget and a report on the results of the county’s community budget outreach, which included a budget survey and five in-person community workshops.
The final adopted budget is set to be released on the county’s website in the coming weeks.
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