The Orange City Council is scheduled to “Consider revenue measures to address ongoing structural General Fund deficits and provide direction for the November 2026 General Municipal Election.”
At the last Council meeting, City Manager Jarad Hildenbrand painted a dire picture of city finances, including the potential for bankruptcy if significant additional revenue is not generated.
City Councilmember Jon Dimitru gave an impassioned speech during the meeting, saying, “We need to be more direct with the public on what this really means. This is not just about balancing a spreadsheet. This is about maintaining core services that keep the community safe, response times for our police officers, our firefighter staffing, our emergency preparedness, and our day-to-day public safety operations. For God’s sake, I don’t want a fire engine going to a fire hydrant and finding it dry because we underfunded our infrastructure, and then having something evil happen due to our lack of preparedness.”
The next Council meeting is on May 12th at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting will be live streamed at https://cityoforange.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
