Supervisor Perez Votes for County Budget that Keeps Blythe Animal Shelter Open, Helps Mobile Home Park Residents Relocate, Increases Funding for Behavioral Health Social Services and Integrated Care

RIVERSIDE – Supervisor V. Manuel Perez joined his colleagues today in approving Riverside County’s budget, a plan that includes Supervisor Perez’s requests for funding to keep the Blythe animal shelter open, $1 million for mobile home relocation and funding for key investments into homelessness, behavioral health and fire service.

The Riverside County budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 was approved Tuesday, on the second day of budget hearings.

“This is a budget that shows our commitment to our values and makes real investments in our future and will have a real return for our residents and communities,” said Supervisor Perez. “Funding in the budget will help us address the most critical needs in the Fourth District and the County of Riverside, including homelessness and housing, and I am especially proud this will help residents in dilapidated mobile home parks that lack infrastructure and clean drinking water and keep the animal shelter in Blythe open. I was very happy to gain the support of my colleagues and county staff and thank them for their support of these crucial needs in the Fourth District and the County of Riverside.”

The county budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 sets funding for county government operations over the next year, with funding for public safety, social services, public works projects, community services and health care. These county programs and services keep communities safe, support families and improve the quality of life for residents.

Supervisor Perez was successful in advocating for his colleagues to support additional funding for the following needs:

• $360,000 to the Riverside County Department of Animal Services to keep the Blythe Animal Shelter open for the next fiscal year;

• $1 million to develop a program with the county housing department to relocate residents from dilapidated mobile home parks in the eastern Coachella Valley into safer living conditions;

• $500,000 to bring back and start planning the 2022 Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival;

• $3.5 million for an integrated data system to address homelessness and social services;

• $1 million for the Behavioral Health Recovery Village;

• $2.5 million to increase the surge capacity of the fire department;

• $5.5 million for deputy patrol in the unincorporated communities.

This year, $5 million was set aside for the county’s Unincorporated Communities Initiative to prioritize projects in the county’s unincorporated communities. The mobile home program will be funded as an allocation from the Unincorporated Communities Initiative.

The budget can be found at https://www.rivco.org/about-county/budget-and-financial-information.

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Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the eastern two-thirds of Riverside County on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. Stretching from Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, south to the Salton Sea and east to Blythe and the Colorado River, the 4th District is the largest geographical district in the county.

Supervisor Perez’s office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.