Proposed Peoples Budget Priorities:
Results of the People's Budget Orange County Survey
Orange County projects itself as an idyllic community with beautiful beaches, first-class restaurants and all the amenities of well-to-do, suburban family life. Yet, for many of the actual residents of the county, the reality is quite different. Like most of Southern California, Orange County has a large and growing unhoused population, an ever-expanding jail system, widespread disparities in income and access to healthcare, job vulnerability, food insecurity, a lack of mental health facilities and the constant threat of economic disaster.
The People’s Budget OC Coalition, a group of local community members, therefore decided to look into the spending priorities of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, an elected body that controls a discretionary budget of approximately $1 billion that is funded by our tax revenues. We asked community members to fill out a survey with their preferences for how that money should be allocated; we then took the responses (over 1,000 so far, and counting) and compared them to the Board's preliminary budget categories to see how well (or poorly) their priorities reflected those of the people of OC (see below).
We have the right to demand a budget that works for the people, and we need public comment on the budget so our voices are heard. The Board’s 2020-21 budget is in the preliminary phases, so we still have a chance to ensure that our County budget addresses our concerns. Tuesday, September 1st, we began our advocacy at the Board of Supervisors’ first budget meeting. Budget revisions continue throughout the year, and together we will continue to voice our demands. You can give a public comment in person or by email. Click here: https://bit.ly/BOSPublicComment to learn "How to Submit Comment to the Board of Supervisors" and for suggested talking points. Sign up here to get updates on both budgets: http://bit.ly/JoinPBOC
Here are the priorities of the people and how the Board’s spending matches up to those priorities:
