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Business Meeting

Orange County · Board of County Commissioners
Tuesday, May 5, 2026

Regular meeting Tax rate and revaluationBonds and debtBudget and appropriationsContracts and procurementCivil rights and nondiscriminationEthics and transparencyGrants and outside fundingHealth and human servicesHomelessness and shelterHousing and affordabilityPublic facilitiesSchools and education

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

The county hires consultants to examine what went wrong with its 2025 property revaluation, and holds a public hearing on financing up to $60.8 million of capital projects. The published agenda packet exceeds what this site's document relay will pass through; this reading is taken from the approved minutes.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The consultants' contract is the formal answer to a year of complaints. After the 2025 revaluation, community feedback and the board's own concerns about deficiencies in the reappraisal process led the commissioners to create a tax assessment work group and charge it with examining the policies and procedures used to set property values.

Who sits on that work group is the point. Three commissioners, the county manager, the tax administrator, the budget director and the director of civil rights and civic life - and alongside them a representative of the state housing coalition's community justice collaborative, a representative of a county property tax justice coalition, a non-profit housing provider, the community relations director, and four community members drawn from different parts of the county. A government examining itself with its critics seated at the table is a deliberate choice.

The county issued a request for proposals in December 2025 and received two responses. The manager, budget director, deputy tax assessor and the three commissioners on the work group reviewed both and passed both to the work group for its recommendation; all parties agreed on the same firm. That firm presented its review plan to the work group on 18 May, built on comprehensiveness, statistical rigour, a focus on vertical inequity and operational analysis, with a formal report due September 2026.

The financing hearing covers about $60.8 million for the year's capital projects and equipment, split into two closings - one in June and one in late July or early August - with financing and transaction costs rolled into the loan. The first of those, up to $32 million, was adopted on 19 May.

How the votes went

Every recorded vote unanimous, including the consultants' contract, the financing hearing and its resolution, and the consent agenda.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (6)

Procedural · 1Proclamation or recognition · 1Public hearing · 1Contract or award · 1Consent agenda · 1Resolution · 1
  1. 4.a Proclamation Honoring Jason Johnson as 2026 National High School Principal of the Year
    Procedural Schools and education
    Up to an hour.
  2. 4.b Mental Health Awareness Month Proclamation
    Proclamation or recognition Health and human services
    A Mental Health Awareness Month proclamation.
  3. 4.c Presentation of Manager's Recommended FY 2026-27 Annual Operating Budget
    Public hearing Bonds and debtBudget and appropriationsPublic facilitiesTax rate and revaluation
    Financing contracts for up to about $60.8 million for the year's capital projects and equipment, with a resolution supporting the county's application to the state Local Government Commission. Staff recommended splitting the package in two, closing in June and in late July or early August, with financing and transaction costs included in the loan.
  4. 5.a Public Hearing on the Financing of Various Capital Investment Plan Projects
    Contract or award Bonds and debtBudget and appropriationsCivil rights and nondiscriminationContracts and procurementEthics and transparencyTax rate and revaluation
    Consultants engaged to evaluate the county's reappraisal and assessment process and recommend improvements, following community feedback and board concerns about deficiencies after the 2025 revaluation. The tax assessment work group that recommended the firm includes three commissioners and county officers alongside representatives of a state housing coalition's community justice collaborative, a county property tax justice coalition, a non-profit housing provider and four community members from different parts of the county. Two proposals were received against a December 2025 request; all reviewers agreed on the same firm.
  1. 6.b HOME-ARP Allocation Plan Substantial Amendment
    Resolution Grants and outside fundingHomelessness and shelterHousing and affordability
    A substantial amendment to the county's HOME-ARP allocation plan, which governs federal pandemic-era housing money aimed at homelessness and housing instability.

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