Budget Cuts May Hobble Tax Collector, Close Temecula Office

Budget cuts could shutter the and cripple the treasurer-tax collector’s office.

A cut bigger than 25 percent would make no “financial sense,” Don Kent, the head of the office, told the Board of Supervisors during a series of hearings that spanned several days last week.

The hearings let agency heads talk to the supervisors about how budget cuts would affect their departments.

The Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office saw its general fund allocations drop 40 percent during the last three fiscal years, he said during the hearing. It cut staffing, closed a satellite office and increased employees’ workloads to compensate, he said.

The office could run on $1.19 million – about 25 percent less than its current budget – but nothing less than that, Kent said.  “Any further cuts, I believe, don’t make financial sense,” Kent said.

Further cuts would make it impossible to enforce delinquent tax collections, run the Temecula office and complete a half-finished project to update the office’s computer system. Right now, the office is working with a 40-year-old system, he said.

Temecula’s Supervisor Jeff Stone warned the office he understood their plight, but he could make no promises. “Every department head is making a compelling argument why they should be spared (from cutbacks),” he said, “but every department is going to have to share in the financial shortfall burden faced by the county.”

If the county cuts the tax collector’s budget, it’s biting the hand that feeds it, Kent said after the meeting.

Property taxes make up more than 80 percent of the county’s discretionary income, he said. “We’ll do the very best we can to keep everything intact, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult,” he said. “There’s a point where it’s going to become extremely painful to provide services and keep up with the workload.”

Cuts to other departments bring similar challenges, said Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Larry Ward and Auditor-Controller Paul Angulo.

The county’s economic projections for the next two years look bad, said Chief Financial Officer Ed Corser.

He forecasts no growth in property tax revenue in the next fiscal year, and the county will likely take in less discretionary revenue: about $592 million as opposed to last year’s $620 million. To make up the difference, the county will bleed its reserves, taking it from $360 million to $127 million, Corser said.

Working on a reserve this size is dangerous considering the possible impacts of the governor’s budget. Counties may have to pick up the tab for services the state pay for, such as the parole system.

City News Service contributed to this report.