Approved Riverside County Budget Creates New Team for Code Enforcement and Sheriff for Short-Term Rental Enforcement

RIVERSIDE – Today, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved the county budget. Included in the budget plan is $1.8 million sought by Supervisors V. Manuel Perez and Chuck Washington and supported by all their fellow Supervisors to strengthen enforcement of the county’s short-term rental ordinance.

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The budget will fund $825,000 to Code Enforcement to create a 10-member countywide team dedicated to short-term rental enforcement, so that resources aren’t pulled away from Code Enforcement’s coverage in county neighborhoods. Supervisor Perez is also contributing $350,000 in Fourth District Unincorporated Communities Initiative funding to support the Code Enforcement Department’s staffing. The new team will achieve Supervisor Perez’s goal of establishing dedicated Code Enforcement positions in Idyllwild, as the Idyllwild-Pine Cove area has the most registered short-term rentals in the county unincorporated area.

The budget also includes $662,000 for the Sheriff’s Department to form a team of four deputy Sheriffs dedicated to responding to short-term rental complaints. The deputies will help with after-hours complaints of noise, disturbances of the peace, and public safety concerns.

Supervisor Perez and Supervisor Washington represent two areas of the county with the bulk of the short-term rentals in the county unincorporated area, Idyllwild-Pine Cove and Temecula Wine Country, respectively. These communities, Idyllwild-Pine Cove and Mountain Center and the unincorporated area of Temecula Wine Country, are currently under a moratorium on new short-term rental permits while the Supervisors and ad hoc committees for both areas examine options for further potential short‑term rental policies going forward.

Supervisor Perez has held three townhall meetings in Idyllwild since representing the Hill at the beginning of this year. He heard the need for greater enforcement as a primary concern to focus on with the short-term rental ordinance. The funds approved today are unprecedented resources in the county budget and Supervisor Perez’s Fourth District funding to ensure a successful short‑term rental program that provides opportunities and maintains the quality of life in the community.

“One of the main issues that has come up is enforcement overall,” said Supervisor Perez. “What will be key to managing short‑term rentals successfully is a robust enforcement program, and having these new teams including staff dedicated in Idyllwild will greatly help all with enforcement of the requirements of the ordinance, as well as noise, parking and any public safety concerns. These funds for staffing will help the community as we address short-term rentals in Idyllwild‑Pine Cove.”

“Short term rentals bring visitors to Riverside County,” said Supervisor Washington. “We want them here, but we want them here without disturbing neighborhoods and being dangerous. The additional dollars to code enforcement and sheriff will ensure they are managed properly without being a nuisance.”

The new county budget takes effect on July 1, and Code Enforcement and the Sheriff’s Department will form these teams in coming months.

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Supervisor V. Manuel Perez represents the Fourth Supervisorial District on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The largest district in the county by geography, the 4th District covers eastern Riverside County, from Whitewater, stretching across the entire Coachella Valley south to the Salton Sea, up Highway 74 to Idyllwild and the mountain communities, and heading east of the Coachella Valley to Blythe and the Colorado River.

Supervisor Perez’s office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.