The California Arts Council has lowered from...

The California Arts Council has lowered from 4- to 3+ the grant ranking of the Orange County Philharmonic Society, which will wait for an explanation of the action before deciding what to do, the society said Thursday. “We’ll wait and see what they say,” society executive director Dean Corey said. “If we can appeal it, we certainly will.”

Council officers were not immediately available Thursday to comment on the reduction. In 1992 the society successfully appealed the exact same drop in rank to receive a $39,051 grant, more than double the amount it had originally been awarded. Before that, OCPS had received the top rank of 4 for five of the previous six years. The council uses the rankings to determine grant amounts.