The Orange County Board of Supervisors on June 8 began public discussions of the county’s newly-recommended $7.7 billion budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. No formal action is set to be taken until the board officially adopts the budget during its June 22 meeting. During the June 8 meeting, the financial blueprint was presented to supervisors and the public to get glean feedback and make adjustments prior to its adoption. Comparing the 2021-22 recommended fiscal year budget to the 2020-21 budget, there is an increase of $152.1 million, or about two percent. The general fund of the proposed budget is set to take up $4.1 billion, and allows for more discretion outside of programs required by law. A goal of this year’s budget is to bring back hundreds of jobs that were lost due to the economic shortfall from the pandemic. During the pandemic, 548 vacant county positions were deleted, 617 employees retired and there was a deletion of 212 vacant positions under the Voluntary …