A funding increase initiative for local non-profit groups was approved by the Board of Orange County Commissioners during a meeting held last Tuesday.

Provisions for the increase were summarized by Chairperson Mark Dorosin, who explained that “a 1.2 percent target of general fund expenditures […] for funding outside agency operations” was the crux of the recommendation.

Commissioners considered the opinions of two county residents, Hathaway Pendergrass and Riley Ruske, during their analysis of the measure.

Pendergrass, who presides over the board of the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, claimed that “allowing more options for capital funding” of non-profit groups would allow them to expand.

Ruske, a former servicemember, insisted that the recommendation would further confound a county whose residents are already subject to high property and sales taxes.

In a nod to prudence, Commissioner Earl McKee noted that entertaining all capital funding requests from outside agencies may not be feasible.

The motion passed in a six-to-one vote, with Commissioner Penny Rich dissenting due to her belief that the provisions therein should allow for more ways to support the funding of non-profit groups.

Before moving onto other matters, Dorosin expressed that the 1.2 percent increase is “a target,” and that “nothing is set in stone.”

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