As OC homeowners pay more and more in property taxes amid a skyrocketing housing market, county officials expect to be swimming in nearly $50 million in new dollars they can do essentially whatever they want within the new fiscal year.
With a final budget vote coming up next week, the question is:
Where should that money go?
How much for sheriff’s deputy raises? Mental health and homeless services? Other programs?
Or should it be saved in a rainy-day fund to keep services going in a possible economic recession?
That decision is made by five people – the elected county Board of Supervisors, who are preparing to give a final budget approval this coming Tuesday.
So far, they’re agreeing completely with the plan county staff came up with after meeting privately with each of the supervisors – with no deviation in public from what staff is proposing.
[ What do you want to see done with the county’s extra $49 million? And what budget questions do you have for supervisor candidates? You can contact reporter Nick Gerda at ngerda@voiceofoc.org ]
At the county budget hearing last week, supervisors voted unanimously in support of staff’s recommendations, with their final budget votes scheduled next week.
The closest supervisors came to a debate was when a majority shot down a proposal by Supervisor Katrina Foley to allocate $5 million in down payment support to help county employees buy homes in OC.
That’s a change from past years, when supervisors would sometimes dissent and vote against staff’s recommendations.
“It’s not a good day for transparency. It’s not a good day for public engagement when budgets are approved without [many] questions,” said Jodi Balma, a Fullerton College political science professor who closely follows local politics.
“Those supervisors are supposed to represent the public’s interests, and that’s why they’re there. So simply rubber-stamping the staff’s recommendations is not what we would hope for.”
County Needs to Do Better at Bringing Public In, Says Candidates
Some question if the public should be brought in earlier in the process.
Orange County holds its first public budget sessions in June, after the budget has been largely already worked out.
Other counties invite the public in earlier.
LA County supervisors publicly review their proposed budget and gather public input each April, followed up by public budget hearings in May.
Northern California’s Marin County brings the public in even earlier, holding open sessions each March to lay out priorities and invite feedback from residents.
Instead of having public sessions before June, Orange County supervisors and their aides have secret meetings individually with staff to give input.
Candidates for supervisor say the county needs to do a better job of engaging the public around the budget.
Buena Park Mayor Sunny Park, who took the lead spot in the primary election for north OC’s 4th District, said the county should “increase community participation by way of early public hearings, many community workshops and community surveys so that the budget is truly reflective of the needs of the residents.”
“Transparency and accountability are critical components of good governance,” she added.
Her Republican opponent in the race agreed that the process should start sooner.
“We should be doing it like Marin County, the sooner the better,” said Brea Councilman Steve Vargas, who nearly ousted Supervisor Doug Chaffee in this month’s primary for north county’s 4th District.
“Just to float ideas and get feedback from the public is always more beneficial,” he added.
Garden Grove Councilwoman Kim Nguyen, who’s running for the 2nd District seat in central OC, she would want to hold public budget sessions specific to her district.
“For starters they need to do a better job of presenting the information,” Nguyen told Voice of OC.
“It’s not easy to read and I had to go back and forth between departments that referenced the same item.”
Her opponent in the runoff – Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento – said the public needs to be engaged sooner.
“Public engagement for the budget should begin earlier in the cycle and be presented in a town hall forum in all 5 districts with accessibility for people with disabilities and translation support for limited English residents,” he said in a text message to Voice of OC.
Supervisor Katrina Foley, who’s running for the southern 5th District, said the county needs to be more intentional at reaching out to the community and seeking input on the budget.
“The budget is a year long process. I will ask our county staff to begin the process earlier next year,” she told Voice of OC.
“I also plan to host a an initial budget input and education session this fall, as it often takes months to take an idea and turn it into something we can fund,” she added, pointing to a senior veterans suicide prevention pilot program she recently announced that had been in the works since last year.
Her opponent, Sen. Pat Bates, also says there should be more public input opportunities earlier – noting the current process is geared towards bureaucrats and not the public.
“I strongly support more opportunities for public participation, including additional time to review the budget online and community meetings with public input outside of the standard budget workshop which is geared towards department heads and not the 3 million residents of Orange County,” Bates told Voice of OC in a statement.
The other only other candidate who made the runoff – Supervisor Doug Chaffee – didn’t respond to the same questions about whether the public should be brought in earlier in the process.
What’s the Current Plan for the Extra $49 Million?
County staff’s proposal calls for using the bulk of the extra unrestricted money – $40 million of it – to keep existing sheriff services going, mostly funding raises the supervisors previously approved.
That’s in addition to a separate $19 million in extra money the Sheriff’s Department is expected to get from their dedicated public safety sales tax.
Among the unrestricted money, supervisors plan to also spend $10 million to keep existing public defender services going, $2.5 million to add a dozen public defender staff to process body-worn camera footage, $2 million to keep current county assessor staffing levels, and $1 million to keep current treasurer-tax collector staffing levels.
There’s questions about what the most intelligent way is to spend that money.
What Would the Candidates Do Differently?
Voice of OC asked all of the supervisor candidates who made the November runoff – or could potentially make the runoff – about what they would do differently with the county budget.
The vast majority of the county’s budget is restricted streams of federal and state dollars that supervisors don’t have much control over. But they do control $927 million in unrestricted dollars in the upcoming budget – an increase of $49 million from the current year.
Here’s what the candidates texted back:
1. What’s the biggest thing you want to change about the county’s $8 billion budget?
Sarmiento: “More attention to core services such as an equitable delivery of healthcare, investment in additional open space and parks in central county, and acquisition of decentralized sites with wrap around services for people experiencing homelessness.”
Nguyen: “I haven’t been able to do a deep dive but for starters they need to do a better job of presenting the information. It’s not easy to read and I had to go back and forth between departments that referenced the same item. I was excited to see the increase in mental health positions/programming. Curious about the decision to transition of the office of care coordination from HCA to the county executive office. Need to look up the vacant position policy…I’d still want to hold budget study sessions specific to my district. Maybe one with city managers and electeds in addition to one with the public 🤔 I’ll have to think on that ! Bc the bigger problem is when the supervisors get the information. Doesn’t seem like enough time to do anything extra.”
Foley: “I want more emphasis on real meaningful investments in housing assistance for seniors and middle class citizens, more mental health services especially related to veterans suicide prevention, and more innovative climate action initiatives.”
Bates: “Having served on the Board I must defer my response until I have had a reasonable amount of time for thoughtful and substantive review of the proposed budget. Of the $8.8 billion budget, 43% is pass through dollars from the state and federal government for administering mandated programs, 45% is dedicated revenue for special districts like John Wayne Airport, the remaining $1 billion is truly discretionary spending.”
Park: “The biggest thing that I want to change about the county’s current $8 billion dollar budget is county’s preparedness for a possible recession as a result of inflation. Additionally, I have a number of concerns about our county’s current budget and would prioritize several changes if elected, including but not limited to, enhancing budget allocations for programs dedicated to combatting homelessness, and expanding the use of key programs to address the impacts of climate change like cooling programs that help residents during extreme heat episodes. For more information on my priorities, please check out my website at www.sunnypark4oc.com.”
Chaffee: (No reply.)
Vargas: “I would increase funding for the Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney to help them catch and convict more lawbreakers, including those who commit violent crime, property crime, elder abuse, and political corruption. I would also refocus funding for HCA and SSA to develop treatment centers to help put homeless residents on a path of recovery before seeking permanent housing options.”
“Sheriff’s Budget: need more in patrol, investigations and technology like License plate readers and cameras at exits of areas patrolled. That is the way to solve crimes the quickest. Management is well funded.
SSA/HCA: Work within the existing budget which is highest in the county (Sheriff is number two) to ensure they get meds and resources to homeless people in crisis. We also have recently released inmates who are release with a month supply of meds they may need to keep from sliding backwards. We need a better plan to reach them before they run out of stabilizing meds.”
2. There’s an extra $49 million in discretionary funds the county is budgeting for next fiscal year that can be spent on any legitimate government expense. How do you think it should be spent? Do you agree with the supervisors’ current plan for it? If not, what would you change about how they plan to spend it?
Sarmiento: “The additional $49 million in discretionary funds can be used for increased mental health services with a special emphasis on seniors and other vulnerable populations, climate action initiatives, housing assistance for seniors, and acquisition and/or activation of open space in park poor areas of the county.”
Nguyen: “Based on my quick assessment of the budget and augmentation request, I would mostly agree with how the Board is choosing to spend monies. It appears that a large portion is being used to fulfill mandated use. The bulk of the augmentation requests are to restore 216 positions across 4 program areas, the majority of which are within public protection. Some of the items identified as part of expansion include the addition of 44 positions in public protection (15 in DA and 14 in Sheriffs) and 116 positions in community services (69), infrastructure & environmental services (29), and general government services(18). Those expanded positions pertain to mental health, street medicine, child welfare emergency response services, and park maintenance, all of which I strongly support. I would need to further look into the budget in order to decipher more of its details to assess where I would differ.”
Foley: “Any extra dollars we set aside should be reinvested back into helping residents. That is why I proposed setting aside $5,000,000 for homeowner mortgage down payment assistance. I will continue to look for creative and innovative solutions where we can. It’s also important that we keep our budget balanced – we continue to hear that an economic downtown is in our future, so having money set aside in case revenue decreases is important.”
Bates: “Having served on the Board I must defer my response until I have had a reasonable amount of time for thoughtful and substantive review of the proposed budget. Of the $8.8 billion budget, 43% is pass through dollars from the state and federal government for administering mandated programs, 45% is dedicated revenue for special districts like John Wayne Airport, the remaining $1 billion is truly discretionary spending.”
Park: “Any discretionary money of the Orange County should be reinvested back to the community for (1) housing assistance for seniors, middle-class and at risk but above poverty line residents, and first-time home buyers, (2) more mental health services especially related to veterans suicide prevention programs, and (3) more innovated climate action initiatives and (4) water crisis management programs such as a rebate program for drought tolerant landscaping.”
Chaffee: (No reply.)
Vargas: “The COVID money, higher Property Taxes and ARPA Funds are all unexpected one time or limited in nature. Even Governments are affected by higher inflation and recession. They should save it all because unexpected costs will quickly eat into the cost of providing services.”
[ What do you want to see done with the county’s extra $49 million? And what budget questions do you have for supervisor candidates? You can contact reporter Nick Gerda at ngerda@voiceofoc.org ]
The final county budget is up for approval on Tuesday, June 28 at the supervisors’ regular meeting, which starts at 9:30 a.m. It’s on the agenda as item 54.Click here for information on speaking at the meeting, and here for a page that will link to a live broadcast of the meeting while it’s happening.
Nick Gerda covers county government for Voice of OC. You can contact him at ngerda@voiceofoc.org.