Orange County managers explain revenue-neutral rate as dozens of residents urge tax relief

Orange County officials presented the county—s revenue-neutral tax rate and fielded questions after a long public-comment period in which multiple residents asked the board to slow, soften or reconsider how the revaluation would affect longtime and fixed-income homeowners.

County Manager Myron explained the mechanics used to compute the revenue-neutral rate for fiscal 2026: the county—s assessed property tax base (including real property, personal property, public utilities and motor vehicles), an allowance for expected appeals (the tax office applied a preliminary 5% reduction to the base), and an allowance for natural growth (the county used a 2.52% average growth rate). Using those inputs the manager said the county calculated a revenue-neutral rate of 0.6384 per $100 of assessed value; that rate is the rate that would produce the roughly same property-tax levy as the previous year after the new assessed values are applied.

Manager Myron walked through examples to show how the revenue-neutral rate interacts with property value changes: for the county portion of the property tax bill he said the break-even increase in market value (the percent increase that would leave county taxes roughly unchanged under the revenue-neutral rate) is about 35% given the county—s combined base adjustments. Myron told commissioners and the public the staff estimate incorporates the current tax base increase of approximately 38.6% (after adjustments) and the projection that motor-vehicle and personal-property values change more slowly than real property.

The presentation included an appeals-status note: the tax office reported just over 700 informal appeals were pending at the time of the meeting; staff said the April 30 deadline is the informal-appeal cutoff and a formal-appeal deadline is July 30. Commissioners and staff encouraged residents to use the informal-appeal process and said materials and the recording of the meeting would be posted online.

Public comments filled much of the meeting. Speakers included homeowners from Habitat for Humanity neighborhoods, residents who identified as living on fixed incomes or Social Security, long-term homeowners, and community advocates. Many speakers described sharp increases in assessed values (participants gave individual examples), said their homes had not had recent improvements, and asked for relief for seniors, modest-income households and long-term residents. Multiple speakers requested a pause or reconsideration of either the tax rate decision or the timing of large capital projects while residents cope with federal and macroeconomic uncertainty.

County staff and several commissioners responded to questions raised during and after the manager—s presentation. Commissioners asked staff for a heat map and more parcel-level detail showing where value changes are concentrated and whether particular property types (single-family, apartment complexes, commercial) had experienced larger shifts. The manager said staff would publish additional analyses, including parcel- and corridor-level increases and a map of percent changes, and would continue to monitor appeals activity.

Why this matters: The combination of a revaluation and a revenue-neutral rate determines how much property owners will pay in county taxes. The public—s response focused on the potential impact on people on fixed incomes and on residents of affordable housing programs; commissioners and staff acknowledged both the legal requirement to revalue and the need to provide clear appeals guidance and additional data to the public.

Speakers quoted in the text are taken from the meeting transcript and are included in the article—s speakers list.