City officials across Orange County are struggling to balance municipal budgets, with some facing multi-million dollar structural deficits – forcing some cities to issue spending cuts, hiring freezes and floating the idea of tax increases.
Budget deficits are a growing trend that’s also hitting the County of Orange, which is grappling with a $75 million structural deficit – a gap largely filled by leaning on reserves.
Lingering budget gaps are forcing some cities to rethink how to boost revenue, with Huntington Beach officials looking to sell advertising spaces on lifeguard towers and make money off merch to reverse the city’s spending gap…