As Orange County continues to explore ways to reform its property appraisal and tax evaluation processes, its Board of Commissioners approved the hire of a firm to conduct a review and make recommendations for improvement.
The local government’s elected officials voted to contract the New York-based real estate appraiser and consulting firm GAR Associates, LLC during the board’s meeting on Tuesday. The $110,000 deal hires GAR Associates to undergo an “independent evaluation of the county’s property reappraisal and tax assessment,” according to a county release, and share both short-term corrective actions and long-term strategies. Orange County chose GAR Associates from a pool of two candidates who responded through its Request for Proposals in December.
County Manager Travis Myren, who presented the item to the county commissioners, said the funding for the partnership with GAR Associates will come from his office’s budget and the tax administration office’s budget, which had set aside funds for contracted services. He said the goal is not only for the evaluator to provide feedback, but share what the tax office is not doing that other municipalities can to generate the most complete picture of a property’s value across the region.
“So, at the end of the process, a consultant will essentially provide a report and evaluation to you that makes recommendations on improvements to the process — and also take all of their work product and turn that over to the county so that we can use that work product in the future. [We want] to basically do this on a continuing basis, where we’re looking at the process of some procedures, evaluating them for effectiveness and implementing the most modern and effective tools to get a fair reappraisal.”
The selection and hire is the latest step for Orange County as its grapples with criticism and data shared by community members from its 2025 revaluation that reflects a disproportionate amount of the county’s tax burden falling onto its Black and long-time homeowners. Beyond adjusting to rapidly rising appraisals, many residents of historically Black neighborhoods across the county saw their property values and taxes rise significantly more relative to wealthy neighborhoods. Between the requests for assistance from homeowners and their own studies of property tax data, a group of concerned community members started the Orange County Property Tax Justice Coalition to highlight the county’s inconsistent and subjective practices and push for reform.
Since then, the county launched a Tax Assessment Working Group made up of county commissioners, members of the Property Tax Justice Coalition, county staff, long-time homeowners and other advocates on the issue. The group will provide guidance for GAR Associates in its evaluation while continuing to brainstorm ways Orange County can improve on the revaluation. Nancy Freeman, who worked as Orange County’s tax administrator for 29 years, also retired in April and the local government brought in John Burgiss as an acting leader for the office.
Among the things recommended for GAR Associates to examine are the statistical models and tools used for valuation accuracy, the county’s appeal process, the tax office’s accessibility and transparency to the public, and whether Orange County should change the frequency of its revaluation cycle from once every four years.
In a county with as big of a wealth gap and unique a mix of properties, though, the task is daunting. Orange County Commissioner Earl McKee asked during Tuesday’s meeting whether hiring GAR Associates and getting a third-party review will spark enough change to create meaningful reform.
“I know we’ve got to do something and and I have no idea what to other than this,” said McKee. “But what assurances do we have that, when this is finished, we’re going to be in any better shape with next evaluation than we were on the last one, and the one before that? One hundred and ten thousand dollars is a lot of money to put in a study.”
Myren responded by saying the independent evaluation could give the county a holistic view of not only what it is doing and what can be changed there, but whether the tax office currently has the capability of using the state-of-the-art tools and models to factor in equitable measures.
“There are other tools in the universe of assessment and appraisal that we could be using if we had the appropriate skill sets in the tax office,” the county manager said. “[And I’m] not saying we don’t now, but there may be refinements we need to make to those skill sets.”
Commissioner Marilyn Carter also responded to McKee, saying that question is on the mind of a lot of county residents. She cited the ongoing discussion in the Tax Assessment Working Group, though, as a reflection of just how many shortcomings the county’s current process has compared to peers and said she believes the independent review is worthwhile.
“I would say if we don’t do this, we certainly will not make headway on the problem,” Carter concluded. “If we do [approve the evaluation], are we guaranteed that we’re going to solve all problems for all people for all time? Likely not. But are we going to do a better job? I believe as a member of that work group, yes, we will do a better job — and it will be more equitable.”
The full Orange County Board of Commissioners meeting from Tuesday, May 5 — which included the presentation of Myren and the county staff’s recommended budget for Fiscal Year 2026 — can be watched here.
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