At its Aug. 28 meeting, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved the request from the Idyllwild Fire Protection District for an advance of its property tax revenue.
IFPD requested an advance of $400,000 from the county in May. The advance will be repaid, with interest, in December and January when Riverside County makes its first distribution of property tax receipts to the cities and special districts. The county estimated the interest would be about $7,000 this year.
From July through the middle of December, the district’s cash flow is limited to ambulance collections because it receives no property tax or assessments during that period.
The county limits the use of the advance tax revenue to “any normal operating expense of the district included in the district’s fiscal year 2018-19 budget.”
The IFPD commission has requested a $400,000 advance since 2016. In 2014, it was $300,000 and in 2011, it was $450,000.
California’s constitution and Government Code have provisions that allow the county to temporarily advance and transfer funds to special districts. The limit is 85 percent of the anticipated revenues for the current fiscal year.