Like many California cities, Orange’s key sources of revenue such as sales and property taxes have not kept pace with the rising costs of maintaining City services. Our City’s budget challenges aren’t a new problem. Orange projected a $7.7 million deficit as far back as Fiscal Year 2010-2011. Despite annual budget balancing measures, such as staffing cuts and operating cost reductions, as well as delaying maintenance on City infrastructure, the deficit has recently grown much larger with an estimated $7-11 million deficit for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 and growing to $26 million in 5 years.

Our City has also experienced more than a decade of lost revenue, including:

• $81 million in losses during the Great Recession
• $40 million in losses following the dissolution of the State Redevelopment Agency (2012)
• $23 million in net losses during the COVID-19 pandemic

To balance future budgets, our City will have to evaluate cuts across all departments which may impact residents’ quality of life.

Cuts could include:

• With public safety accounting for approximately 70% of the budget, residents may experience reductions in:
  • Fire and emergency medical services, including response times
  • Resources for property crime prevention
  • Homelessness intervention
  • Neighborhood patrol
  • Code enforcement
  • Traffic safety
  • Graffiti abatement
• Other quality of life services and programs are being considered for reduction in funding or have already been eliminated, including street maintenance, parks, youth and senior programs, and community events such as Treats in the Streets, 3rd of July, and Christmas Tree Lighting.

This is not an exhaustive list of potential cuts if sustainable and sufficient revenue sources are not found to close the budget deficit.

While our City has already taken several steps to protect neighborhood services, including some annual reductions, these critical actions have only slowed down the problem, not solved it. 

Some of the cost-saving measures already taken since Fiscal Year 2007-2008 include:

• $86 million in departmental operating reductions including:
  • Eliminated positions
  • Hiring freezes and furloughs
  • Park/facility maintenance
  • Reducing Library hours
  • Technology related investment to effectively meet community needs
• Over $30 million in deferred maintenance:
  • Community Facilities: More than $13 million in improvements to City facilities/infrastructure
  • City and Public Safety Vehicles: More than $13 million in City and public safety vehicle upgrades and maintenance has been deferred since 2017
  • Parks: Nearly $4 million in upgrades to our City parks has been delayed
• Over $5 million in service cuts for Fiscal Year 2024-25 including:
  • Freezing 10 public safety positions in the Police Department and Fire Department
  • Freezing 11 currently vacant City staff positions from various departments
  • $510,000 in reductions to library services
  • $550,000 in reductions to citywide maintenance such as reducing tree trimming by 50%, and reducing or eliminating the cleaning and landscaping of various areas throughout the City
  • $400,000 in reductions to a variety of administration and operation needs such as supplies, training, and equipment
  • Eliminated or considering reductions to special events including Treats in the Streets, the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, and upcoming 3^rd of July events unless sponsors can support these events

Yes, in addition to what we’ve done so far to reduce the deficit, we forecast many needed improvements in the future, including:

• Community Facilities: $45 million in improvements to City facilities through 2035.
• Fire Station Replacement: Fire Stations 2, 3, 4 and 5, which having been built in the early 1960s, are at the end, or past, their intended useful life. Based on current construction cost estimates, the cost to replace each station would fall within the range of $7-10 million.
• Street and Sidewalks: Our City projects an ongoing budget shortfall of an estimated $2-3 million to maintain streets in good condition.
• Traffic, Transportation, and Street Lighting: A $600,000 annual shortfall to maintain our traffic and street lighting equipment.
• Vacancies: Our City is currently operating with over 40 vacant staff positions.

Click here to view the arguments submitted for and against Measure Z.