Orange County manager recommends small tax-rate uptick to fund schools, safety-net programs; public hearing draws widespread appeals to fully fund schools and ­

Orange County Manager Travis Myron presented the county’s recommended fiscal 2025–26 budget at a Board of County Commissioners public hearing on May 29, 2025, proposing a 2.95¢ increase over the revenue‑neutral tax rate to help pay for school planning and design and to support county operations.

The recommended budget comes after a revaluation that raised the county’s tax base to about $33,300,000,000. Myron told the board the revenue‑neutral rate — the tax rate that would produce the same revenue as the current year after accounting for natural growth — is 62.64¢ per $100 of assessed value, and that the manager’s recommended budget “does recommend a 2.95¢ increase over the revenue neutral rate” to fund school planning, design and operations.

The manager said the recommended budget emphasizes restraint and flexibility: roughly 60% of departments were held at or below base budgets; a 10% across‑the‑board reduction to training and travel was applied; four vacant positions would be eliminated while four other positions were added to reduce expense or generate revenue; some general fund expenses were shifted to other funding sources such as occupancy taxes; Sportsplex and the Arts Commission would be charged administrative overhead; and special districts would be charged for tax collection and…