Orange County taxpayers spent over $1 million on health, vision and dental insurance for local elected leaders, including county supervisors and a couple of elected top city executives last year, as officials in a host of cities struggled to balance their budget.
[Read: Orange County Cities Scramble to Patch Budget Gaps]
Oftentimes, these benefits are offered as “cash back,” meaning that if a council member has preexisting insurance coverage from a job or spouse, they can opt to receive their health, dental and vision benefits from the city as a cash stipend.
The benefits spending also sets up scenarios where city officials’ compensation varies widely between cities and in many cases among elected officials serving alongside each other on the same dais.
Taxpayers in cities like San Juan Capistrano and Laguna Hills spent over a hundred thousand dollars on health insurance for local politicians while others in places like Yorba Linda and San Clemente didn’t spend a dime.
The spending means some city council members – a part time position – got health benefits packages or pay worth tens of thousands of dollars last year.
Those kinds of public healthcare subsidies for elected officials stand in stark contrast to the brewing controversy in Congress as billions in federal healthcare subsidies are set to expire Dec. 31 – leaving an estimated 22 million Americans vulnerable to substantial surges in health care costs.
Mike Moodian, a professor of political science at Chapman University, questions if taxpayers should spend so much on elected officials’ healthcare compensation.
“These city council members are part time employees, and they’re getting these lavish benefits,” Moodian said. “It’s excessive. It’s become the new norm, and it never should have been.”
The findings are part of an investigation by Chapman University students, in partnership with the Voice of OC, to see how much taxpayers spent on the healthcare of every single city council member, elected treasurer, elected attorney, elected clerk and Orange County Supervisor in 2024.
Ignoring Disclosure on Taxpayer-Funded Council Healthcare
Anaheim City Hall. Credit: MOIRA WU, Voice of OC
While over six dozen elected officials are taking advantage of the health, vision and dental benefits, some of the ones who got compensated the most did not respond to requests for comment.
Most cities either didn’t pay for health benefits or provided information about city council health care benefits, detailing them by name in response to public records requests.
Two cities didn’t.
In Anaheim, six council members currently receive benefits, amounting to $46,000 as of late August, according to city records — but city officials refused to disclose their names.
The refusal to release the names in Anaheim stands in contrast to Costa Mesa – where officials have published annual reports on how much they and city employees are compensated for over a decade.
All by name and title.
“The City of Costa Mesa has pledged to be one of the most transparent government entities in the United States, believing that its citizens have the right to see how the public’s business is being conducted,” reads the city website.
“The information provided by the City of Costa Mesa exceeds what is commonly made available to the public on employee compensation.”
Anaheim has a similar report available online but identifies the employee only by title – making it impossible to know who on the city council received the most in health benefits but allowing residents to easily identify how much top city staff and the mayor are compensated.
According to Anaheim’s report, most Anaheim city council members receive around $1,500 a year. However, one city council member has acquired $31,587 in insurance this year alone.
Last year, taxpayers there spent over $15,000 on health benefits for six Anaheim officials – with more than half of that going to one city council member, according to city records.
“City employees are entitled,” Anaheim Public Information Officer Mike Lyster said. “We as the city have an obligation to provide benefits to employees. We can’t be in a position where we pick and choose which employees get what. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone.”
Anaheim City Spokesman Mike Lyster on Dec. 6, 2022. Credit: JULIE LEOPO, Voice of OC
Notably, the city of Anaheim typically does not provide part-time city employees with health insurance. City council members are legally considered to be part-time.
Anaheim grappled with a $64 million budget deficit earlier this year – closing the gap through a mix of bonds and one-time spending – and has yet to propose a consistent income plan to eliminate the deficit.
Lyster said the council’s unique role in local government operations warrants the added stipends.
“It involves a degree of sacrifice,” Lyster adds. “So there is a consideration given to the unique role of a council member, and also to encourage people to take part in the local elective process.”
Moodian disagreed with Lyster.
“When the founders of the United States established this democracy,” says Moodian. “The idea was always that we would have common citizens who would seek elected office who would sacrifice their time in order to serve the common good.”
“The public information officer of Anaheim’s job is not to serve as the PR arm of the city council members,” Moodian added. “So frankly, that sounds like a matter of opinion, as opposed to the official stance of the taxpayers of the City of Anaheim.”
Huntington Beach also did not provide records of healthcare spending by name when requested.
Meanwhile, state records indicate Huntington Beach City Council members got a total of over $52,000 last year.
The state records do not identify the council members by name only by their title.
In Huntington Beach, the city attorney, treasurer and clerk are also elected positions.
Taxpayers in Surf City paid over $48,000 in total health benefits for their elected city attorney, city treasurer and city clerk in 2024.
When students requested the information, officials provided a link to different health plans and premiums but not specifically how much each council member was compensated.
Upon multiple follow ups, a city spokesperson said they would look into providing the names but did not do so before publication of this story.
How Much Are Residents in Costa Mesa Spending?
Outside of the City Council meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif., on July 15, 2025. Credit: JOSIAH MENDOZA, Voice of OC
Costa Mesa officials seem to be compensated the most when it comes to health benefits with residents there spending a total of $226,684 last year across all seven council members, according to the city’s compensation reports on the city website.
The annual report that the city has published on their website since 2011 includes other things like long-term disability and life insurance as part of health benefits – something other cities and the state records do not do.
The state database includes compensation given to the officials for health, vision and dental benefits in one category like other cities.
According to the state records, Costa Mesans spent over $30,000 on health, dental and vision insurance for their elected officials.
Those same records, however, also indicate that the seven council members last year got a total of over $196,000 combined in “other pay” – which includes things like car allowances, meeting stipends, incentive pay, bonus pay and other pay reported on 1099 IRS Forms.
The city records indicate none of the council members last year got other pay – which they characterize as money for car allowance, professional development and delayed merit increases.
In Costa Mesa, officials are given a flexible cash stipend to buy health insurance and other types of benefits, according to the city website.
City Clerk Brenda Green said in an email the unspent money is used towards deferred compensation and that city council members were given $3,297 a month as their flexible cash stipend in 2024.
State records indicate that Costa Mesa only spent $1,720 on deferred compensation last year.
Green said in a follow up phone interview last week she wasn’t sure why the state numbers differed from the city’s reports but that when the different compensation amounts were added up for each they were only off from each other by roughly two thousand dollars.
For uniformity, Voice of OC is using the state numbers for this investigation. The numbers received from the other cities that contributed benefits predominately matched up with those found on the state’s website.
Where Are Taxpayers Spending the Most on Health Coverage For Politicians?
San Juan Capistrano’s historic district on March 8, 2025. Credit: TEAGAN WALL, Voice of OC
Taxpayers last year spent over $1,026,000 combined on the health insurance of over six dozen elected officials from 19 OC cities as well as county supervisors in 2024.
To see how much each city spent on health insurance, click here.
About $858,000 of that was spent on nearly 70 city council members and about $168,000 of that was spent on Orange County Supervisors, a few elected treasurers, a couple elected city clerks and one elected city attorney.
According to state records, residents in San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo and Cypress spent the most on city council healthcare, vision and dental benefits last year, making for a total of over $394,000 all together.
As of early September, San Juan Capistrano has already spent over $100,000 in healthcare benefits for four council members. Howard Hart is the sole waiver, due to the fact that he receives federal healthcare as a retired Navy officer.
Last year, residents in San Juan Capistrano spent over $116,000 on the health, dental and vision benefits on four city council members, according to state and city records.
Residents in Laguna Hills – one of OC’s smaller cities and home to over 31,000 people – spent over $107,000 on health benefits for their local elected officials.
That’s almost $20,000 more than the over $89,000 Orange County taxpayers spent on health insurance benefits for the Board of Supervisors combined.
In other cities, large healthcare spending can be primarily attributed to one or two members like in Westminster, Garden Grove, Orange and Rancho Santa Margarita.
A mural at the SteelCraft Market in Garden Grove on Aug. 10, 2025. Credit: HOSAM ELATTAR / Voice of OC
Last year, Garden Grove residents paid over $65,000 in health benefits for two city council members combined. The rest of the council members did not receive money for their health insurance, according to city and state records.
Buena Park and Newport Beach residents paid over $60,000 on health insurance last year while Irvine residents spent nearly $50,000 for the benefits of three city council members, according to state and city records.
Laguna Beach residents didn’t pay for their city council members’ health benefits last year but did spend money on the benefits for their elected treasurer and elected clerk.
As of Aug. 31 this year, residents there spent over $56,000 on city council members health benefits, according to city records.
Four council members in Santa Ana got compensated for a total of $13,828 for health benefits last year with one council member receiving over $11,000 in health benefits alone, according to state and city records.
According to the city’s response to a public records request, the maximum the city will contribute to medical insurance for council members is $2,050 a month for family coverage, $1,657 for a plus 1, or $1,004 for single or opt-out.
“Medical/Dental Cash-Back Option is available for those who have medical insurance coverage through other sources,” reads the city website. “Councilmembers may also enroll in the City’s Section 125 Cafeteria Plan, also known as a Flexible Spending Plan, allowing payment for certain health benefits with pre-tax dollars.”
The Orange Circle fountain. Credit: NATALIE CARTWRIGHT, Voice of OC
The city of Orange — forced to make budget cuts as they grapple with a projected municipal bankruptcy — has spent more than $15,000 on healthcare benefits last year for three city council members with 94% of it going to one council member.
They are expected to spend over $16,600 on it this year.
[Read: Building Back Trust: Diving into Orange’s Multi-Million Dollar Budget Deficit]
Orange did not provide compensation for elected officials in 2020. In 2011, the council got rid of both their salaries and health pay, but the former was brought back in 2022. Healthcare benefits came soon after.
“It was something that a previous council had stripped away from future councils,” City Councilwoman Arianna Barrios said. “I was certainly fine with that. I personally didn’t care one way or the other. But as some of my colleagues came onto the council, it was more important to them.”
At the time that healthcare benefits were reintroduced, Barrios said that she was the only council member to decline. Now, five of seven council members waive the money. Barrios attributed this change to the recent budget issues in Orange.
“Several of my colleagues who had been taking the benefits or taking the salary… they gave it up,” Barrios adds. “They changed their option preferences and they gave it up, if nothing else out of solidarity out of the people that we serve.”
Yorba Linda & The Cities That Aren’t Covering Healthcare
A sign outside Yorba Linda City Hall on Sept. 2, 2025. Credit: ERIKA TAYLOR, Voice of OC
Other cities that did not spend money on healthcare last year include Brea, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Seal Beach, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos and San Clemente.
In Yorba Linda, residents voted to stop paying for the council’s healthcare benefits over a decade ago.
David Christian, who recently served as assistant city manager of Yorba Linda, was in office during the switch.
“[Council members] were getting this health benefit, the same health benefits that were offered to the full-time employees, and I think there was probably some rumblings in the community that the council wasn’t really full-time,” he said.
As for where the money went, Christian said that it was repurposed back into the city’s General Fund – a pot of money that helps fund libraries, parks, police and public safety services.
Peggy Huang, who sits on the Yorba Linda city council and was elected in 2014 after the measure was passed, does not think that council members should receive stipends at all.
“If you’re going to offer council members such benefits,” Huang said, “then why are you not offering it to your part-time employees or even contracted employees?”
Hosam Elattar contributed to the reporting and writing of this article.
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