Blog note: this article references a current grand jury investigation.
The future is grim for the Southern Coachella Valley Community Services District, created by voters in 1986 to pay for supplemental law enforcement in the unincorporated communities of Thermal, Oasis, Mecca and Vista Santa Rosa.
It is the latest government entity faced with difficult financial decisions caused by the ballooning costs of contracting with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department for patrol and investigative services. A Desert Sun report in March found that five Coachella Valley cities that contract with the sheriff for services paid nearly $42 million in 2018, a 32% increase from 2010.
The District has seen a similar increase that is eating a larger portion of its $784,000 operating budget. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, the district spent $644,565 on law enforcement services, an increase of 18% from five years earlier. That pays for two full-time deputies and one full-time sergeant, down from a peak of five deputies, a sergeant, a community services officer, as well as partial funding for school resource officers.
The district must soon decide whether to make a second appeal to voters to raise their property taxes. Voters in 2010 soundly rejected an increase that would have been tied to inflation. Also on the table is the prospect of annexing North Shore to expand the district's tax base. The efforts, however, do not guarantee that the district's financial picture will improve quickly enough to keep it solvent or maintain its contract with the sheriff's department.
"It's the elephant in the room," said district board President Rebecca Broughton. "We're all concerned about the district."
In recent years, the district, which also manages a waste-hauling contract with Burrtec, has borrowed from its waste fund account to pay for the rising sheriff contract costs.
General Manager Ben Crowson, who declined an interview for this story, outlined the challenges the district faces in a two-page statement. Because of a minuscule office staff, the district has a hard time campaigning for an assessment increase, particularly in communities with a large share of low-income residents. Still, the board recently approved an effort to bring an assessment increase before voters, perhaps as soon as next year.
"With any luck, these communities will continue to benefit from the services provided by the district," Crowson said.
But the district is under pressure. The Riverside County civil grand jury has begun a review of the district, the board disclosed at a recent meeting. The civil grand jury, which is distinct from the criminal grand jury process, has oversight of operations of county and municipal governments, including special taxing districts.
Civil grand jury reports are published annually, typically in early summer, and are reviews or investigations into agencies or county programs. They often include findings, as well as recommendations, that are published with responses by the government entities under review.
Crowson and Broughton at their recent meeting described the review as "routine" and said the district is cooperating with the civil grand jury process.
The district's worsening fiscal picture
Funded with property tax assessments and waste hauling franchise fees, the district has operated at a deficit in recent years, according to a Desert Sun review of financial audits for a five-year period between 2014 and 2018, the most recent audit available. The deficit has reached nearly $300,000, according to the most recent audit.
The recently approved 2019-20 budget shows the district projects another deficit of more than $258,000. The district also expects to spend more than $728,000 on law enforcement expenses, representing about 85% of its operating budget.
"The district is at the mercy of the automatic increases in law enforcement costs that have been negotiated with the unions," Crowson said. "Although the district believes the cost of law enforcement provided by the sheriff’s department is worth it, the dilemma is that while these costs automatically increase, the district’s revenue does not."
Additionally, unlike their Coachella Valley city counterparts that have easily been able to raise taxes to offset rising law enforcement costs, the district is hamstrung by challenges like a rural population of low-income households that has already voted down an increase. The current assessment rate on residences and commercial businesses has remained unchanged since the district's creation in 1986.
The board in 2010 asked voters to approve an assessment increase tied to inflation that would have paid for additional deputies. The board had proposed raising property tax assessments per residential unit from $66 to $85; assessments on commercial units would have grown from $88 to $110.
Still, despite operating a budget with fees set more than 30 years ago, the district has labored to address quality-of-life issues in the eastern Coachella Valley communities that comprise its boundaries. The combined population of the four communities is more than 21,000, according to census data.
The sheriff deputies assigned to the district work on issues ranging from drug seizures, agricultural theft and other quality-of-life problems. The district also is responsible for graffiti abatement.
The board's members are elected by districts to four-year terms and serve on a volunteer basis, drawing no salary. Broughton has served on the board since its inception. The current board includes Broughton; Ann Wells; Eugene Kitagawa; and Frank Figueroa.
Figueroa, who joined the board in 2016, said in an interview he hopes the district will be able to figure out a solution soon, given its critical role in providing much-needed services in a rural area. He's unsure what solution will prove successful but said he's committed to working with board members to keep services intact.
"How do we fix this long term and not do a band aid fix?" he asked.
October 1, 2019
Palm Springs Desert Sun
By Ricardo Lopez
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