Orange County supervisors endorse recommended FY 2024–25 budget framework, continue emergency for Navy hangar fire and hear public calls for more housing andimm

The Orange County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on the county’s recommended fiscal year 2024–25 budget, heard presentations from the chief executive and budget staff, and took a series of nonbinding straw votes on program‑level budgets and staff augmentation requests. The board also unanimously continued a local emergency declaration related to a Navy hangar fire and set the final budget adoption for June 25.

The hearing opened with CEO remarks that the county’s $9.5 billion recommended budget reflects anticipated revenues and expenses but remains sensitive to pending changes in the state budget. County Chief Financial Officer Michelle Aguirre and Budget and Finance Director Kim Engleby provided the board and the public with an overview of the budget process and the recommended plan: roughly $3.7 billion (about 39%) is proposed for community services, $1.8 billion (about 19%) for public protection, and another $1.8 billion for infrastructure and environmental resources. Engleby told the board the total recommended budget includes 18,678 positions and layed out restore and expand augmentation requests for department programs.

Why it matters: supervisors took nonbinding straw votes to guide staff as they prepare a final budget for adoption on June 25. Those indications to staff help determine which department requests will be carried into the final ordinance and which require further negotiation or revision; the hearing is part of a multi‑stage process that staff said will be finalized after year‑end accounting and the June 25 vote.

Public commenters, many representing housing and immigrant‑rights organizations, urged the board to shift more county discretionary funding toward affordable housing, prevention programs and services for people experiencing homelessness. Repeated testimony compared per‑resident allocations: speakers pointed to a widely cited figure used during the hearing—“34¢ per resident” allocated to affordable housing—versus roughly “$102 per resident” the commenters said is allocated to sheriff’s public protection spending. Among other requests, several organizations urged the board to maintain and expand “Padilla” attorneys — immigration‑specialist positions in the public defender’s offices that advise on immigration consequences of criminal pleas and help seek post‑conviction relief.

On the emergency declaration: the board voted to continue the local emergency related to the Navy hangar fire and scheduled ongoing review every 60 days; the continuation was moved, seconded and carried unanimously.

Votes at a glance (nonbinding straw votes taken during the hearing): - Program 1 (Public Protection): CEO‑recommended base budget, technical and reduced augmentations approved by straw vote; expand requests (including sheriff’s one‑time requests) were debated and advanced. A later expand vote drew one abstention on a specific item; otherwise votes carried. (See provenance: presentation and vote spans in meeting timeline.) - Program 2 (Community Services): CEO‑recommended base budget and restore/expand augmentations (including IHSS and some HCA restorations) advanced by straw vote; board directed staff to consider moving the Human Relations Commission staffing in‑house per a supervisor’s request. - Program 3 (Infrastructure & Environmental Resources): base budget and several expand augmentations (including 5 replacement vehicles for Public Works; three of five replacements were zero‑emission) advanced by straw vote. - Programs 4–7: CEO recommendations, restores and selected expand augmentations (including positions for care coordination, auditor controller temporary ERP positions, fleet replacements and others) advanced by straw vote; all carried at the program level. - Formal continuation of the public hearing to June 25, 2024 at 9:30 a.m.: moved, seconded and carried unanimously.

Key board directions and staff follow up: during the hearing the board and CEO noted eight items to be pursued after the meeting, including (1) large‑animal evacuation planning for disasters, (2) assembling a comprehensive listing of county housing resources and funding flows, (3) studying options to identify additional funding for affordable housing, (4) examining flood control cleanup and resource needs, (5) exploring continuation funding for prevention/stabilization pilot programs, (6) assigning district‑level homeless liaison staff for more rapid outreach, (7) tracking the DA investigator vehicle/lease question and (8) obtaining a cost estimate for implementing pending Levine Act changes for a board letter.

What the public said: housing coalitions, tenant and immigrant‑rights groups and individual residents urged the board to increase the county’s investment in housing and services, improve multilingual outreach and hold workshops at times accessible to working residents. Multiple speakers asked the board to make Padilla attorney funding permanent and to add additional immigration counsel capacity; speakers described multi‑year wait lists for post‑conviction relief and warned of family separation risks when counsel is unavailable.

Notable budget figures and clarifications raised during the hearing: the recommended budget total was repeatedly described as $9.5 billion; community services was described as about $3.7 billion (39% of the budget); program staffing in the recommendation totaled 18,678 positions; the CEO recommended $34 million in appropriations for department augmentations with $18 million net county cost and 98 positions proposed as additions in the recommendation process. The board and staff emphasized that many funding lines are dedicated or restricted and cannot be shifted without complying with statutory or grant restrictions.

Next steps: staff will incorporate the nonbinding straw votes and the eight directed items into the final budget package and return the budget for a formal vote at the board meeting on June 25. The CEO also said the county will perform a year‑end “true up’’ in September after books are closed and may bring mid‑year adjustments if the state budget requires changes.

At the close of the hearing the board announced two closed‑session items — a county executive officer appointment and labor negotiations — and then adjourned.

Quotes (selected): • "Budgets are moral documents," said Felicity Figueroa, urging greater housing investment. • "Padilla attorneys are needed because immigration law is extremely complex," said Sandra Deanda of the OC Rapid Response Network. • "The recommended budget reflects our anticipated revenues as well as all of the expenses that are necessary to continue providing outstanding services to the public," CEO Frank Kim said in his opening remarks.

The board’s straw votes do not by themselves enact appropriations; they guide staff in preparing the final ordinance for formal board adoption on June 25. The public hearing remains open until that formal vote.