Letter to the Editor: A view of the County Budget from unincorporated Joshua Tree

"It is not too late to change this budget and call for more transparency." - Deborah Bollinger

This Tuesday, June 11, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors will decide how to allocate $1.5 billion in discretionary revenue and other funding. (The agenda for the meeting is here.) The budget, as proposed, is not balanced toward the needs of the Morongo Basin and the tens of thousands of people who live in unincorporated areas who have historically been ignored and underserved. Our tax monies are being allocated disproportionately to law enforcement while neglecting basic needs such as affordable housing, mental health, and other community resources for the unhoused and people who are struggling.

It is disturbing to me that the biggest chunk of the budget, 40% ($620 million), will go the Sheriff’s Department along with criminal prosecution and probation. Sheriff Dicus himself recently identified a critical need for support services. “Our social safety network is not working and needs to be strengthened,” Dicus stated after deputies shot and killed a 15-year-old autistic boy. The boy was one of two young people in crisis to be shot by deputies this year. “There is no reason for law enforcement to be the ones that end up having to get involved in these crises,” Dicus said.

Another critical funding need is for housing and homelessness programs that will receive just 0.13% ($1.9 million) of the discretionary budget if approved as recommended. It has always been difficult to make a living in the Morongo Basin, and it has only gotten harder since investors have turned affordable housing units into vacation rentals. The County has contributed to the problem by refusing to put caps on short-term rentals here.¹ We have yet to see any accounting of how much money the County collected from Transient Occupancy Taxes and where those monies went. 

There was a time when I first moved to Joshua Tree that I felt we got a fair amount of services for our tax money, and many of us who moved here were attracted by the affordable homes and wide-open spaces. My neighborhood had a volunteer fire station, the community had a chamber of commerce, we developed our own Community Plan, and had a Municipal Advisory Council that brought representatives together from all of the unincorporated areas of the Morongo Basin to discuss our concerns and present them to the County. Twenty-five years later that is all gone, and this County Budget does not represent local priorities.

It is not too late to change this budget and call for more transparency. To have your voice heard, email a written comment to: COB@sbcounty.gov. Submit a online written comment here: bit.ly/SBCoComment, or attend the hearing in-person. Here is an Inland Region Budget Justice Advocate toolkit, you will find talking points, information to help share your priorities with the Board of Supervisors, and other information on how to participate in the hearing.

Deborah Bollinger
Joshua Tree

Editor’s note:
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meets on Tuesdays at 9 am in Closed Session. The Public Session begins at 10 am.
Meetings are held at
Covington Chambers, First Floor
County Government Center
385 N Arrowhead Ave
San Bernardino, CA 92415

Meetings are broadcast live here.

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1. Editor’s note: In incorporated Twentynine Palms, short-term rental permits are capped at 500. Incorporated Yucca Valley limits STRS to 10% of the housing supply.