With the weight of bankruptcy payments finally off its books, Orange County wants to build.

The county’s proposed $6.1 billion budget for next fiscal year, released Monday, increases funding for capital projects to four times what the county spent last year. If approved, the budget will take effect July 1.

Those construction projects include building the county’s first permanent year-round homeless shelter in Anaheim, beginning work on a multimillion-dollar animal shelter in Tustin, planning the first phase of a project to overhaul the Civic Center in Santa Ana, and making significant upgrades to the facility that provides utility service to county jails, courts and administrative buildings.

The county paid off its 1994 bankruptcy debt last year, freeing up new discretionary dollars for spending and emboldening officials to consider larger projects requiring bond issuances.

The utilities project – estimated to cost $53.7 million next year alone – will require the county to approve its largest bond issuance since its 1994 bankruptcy. The board of supervisors is set to vote on that bond today.

“We’re finally getting back into the bond market and getting to work on these major projects that have been just sitting there for many, many years,” county spokeswoman Jean Pasco said.

The proposed $6.1 billion budget for fiscal 2016-17 is $264 million higher than the county’s current budget. Almost a quarter of that – $71 million – came from a raise for members of the Orange County Employees Association that was approved in December, according to county projections released at that time.

The county expects secured property taxes to grow by 4 percent and public safety sales tax revenue to jump by 3.5 percent, and it assumes increases in other revenue.

The end to those bankruptcy payments freed up $11.9 million in recurring property tax revenue that will allow OC Parks to hire 26 employees to maintain and improve county parks.

Despite the county’s large annual budget, only $744 million is general purpose revenue, which can be used for any purpose. That’s only $21 million more than last year, leaving Orange County’s numerous departments to compete for those extra dollars.

“Orange County continues to operate on very tight margins because our discretionary funds only represent about 12 percent of our total budget,” CEO Frank Kim said. “That’s why we’re constantly looking for creative ways to fund projects and to stretch every dollar we get.”

The county will hold public budget hearings June 14 and 15, and much of that time likely will be spent determining how the $21 million should be divvied up.

Notable proposals for new programs and increased staffing include:

• The Sheriff’s Department has asked for an extra $341,545 to form a cybercrime unit that would investigate data theft, fraud, cyberstalking and bullying, computer hacking and corporate espionage. It also has requested an additional $2 million to continue its upgrades of the closed-circuit video system it uses to monitor county jails.

• The District Attorney’s Office wants $2.5 million to hire 30 employees to help sort through the information produced by new technologies – including police body cameras, surveillance video and cellphone data – which the office needs to turn over to defense attorneys during the discovery phase of a trial.

• The Social Services Agency wants $1.8 million to add 20 workers to help with the growth of Medi-Cal and $2.6 million to hire 30 workers to help with the local expansion of the state’s food stamp program.

Contact the writer: jgraham@ocregister.com or 714-796-7960