FOUR CITIES: Roth, Emmerson introduce measure to help RivCo cities

January 10, 2013

FOUR CITIES: Roth, Emmerson introduce measure to help RivCo cities
Riverside Press Enterprise
By: Jim Miller
Posted on January 10, 2013

Riverside County senators Richard Roth and Bill Emmerson introduced legislation this week stating their intent to restore lost funding for California cities that have incorporated since 2004.

All four of the cities are in Riverside County — Jurupa Valley, Eastvale, Wildomar and Menifee.

The four Riverside County cities collectively lost $14 million annually when lawmakers approved a 2011-12 spending plan that shifted some vehicle-license fee money to pay for local law-enforcement grants.

All cities lost money in the shift, but it hit the four Riverside County cities particularly hard. A 2006 law had directed an extra boost of license-fee revenue to help them get established, but the budget emptied that pot of money.

Last September, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed legislation that would have allocated $14 million to the cities. In a veto message, Brown said the state could not afford the measure “given fiscal uncertainties.”

The bill introduced by Roth, D-Riverside, and Emmerson, R-Hemet, only declares the measure’s intent; its details will be fleshed out later this year.