Orange City Council approves first reading of 2025–26 budget, tentatively adopts matching tax-rate ordinance

The City of Orange City Council approved on first reading an ordinance adopting the city's fiscal 2025'26 budget and approved on first reading a companion tax-rate ordinance that matches the budget, during a sometimes heated Sept. 17 meeting at which members debated using reserves, cuts and promised employee raises.

The council voted by record vote to approve ordinance C, the budget package discussed at recent workshops, and then took a first reading vote on a tax-rate ordinance that corresponds to that budget. The city's staff had presented three draft ordinances (labeled A, B and C) and said ordinance C uses the tax rate discussed in the workshops and the cuts the council endorsed.

City staff and council members framed the vote as a first reading that must be followed by a second reading to finalize any ordinance. City staff advised that the city charter requires a tax rate that supports an adopted budget and that reserves generally cannot be used to balance ongoing operating expenses except in an emergency. After the votes, the council canceled a special-called meeting scheduled for Sept. 18 because the first readings had been completed.

Council debate centered on three issues: whether to use reserves to avoid raising the city's tax rate, how much of the recently proposed cuts to keep, and preserving promised pay increases for city employees. Councilmember Childs argued the package would raise the average homeowner's city tax bill by what he…