The Montgomery County Council voted this past week to approve a $5.8 billion budget for fiscal 2020, which will go into effect in July at the beginning of the fiscal year. The budget, which passed unanimously, adds $14.8 million in spending above what County Executive Ike Leggett had proposed. It includes a property tax rate of $0.9786 per $100 of assessed value, slightly below the current rate of 98 cents. The owner of an average home in the county will pay $16 more a year because of rising property assessments. Drivers will see an increase in street parking fees in the Bethesda area, street parking at meters in within the parking lot district will increase to $3.25 an hour; the hours and fees for Silver Spring and Wheaton parking lot districts will remain the same.
The spending plan includes $2.68 billion for the county’s public school system — $8.7 million above “maintenance-of-effort”, a state mandate that requires schools to be funded at least the same amount as in the past year. Montgomery College’s operating budget will be $314.7 million, also above maintenance-of-effort for that institution. “The school system projects an enrollment of 164,477 students in the next fiscal year,” Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson said. The council voted to include $314.7 million for Montgomery College, an increase of $3.1 million.
The council also approved spending $227 million on transportation, including road maintenance, leaf collection and the county’s Ride On bus service. Council members added $100,000 to the budget for pedestrian safety audits designed to make walking and biking safer countywide. The Kids Ride Free program is being expanded so that anyone under 18 years old can use Ride On free of charge. Under the budget approved by the council, programs for children, youth and families will get $85.7 million, including added money for mental health therapists at schools. There is also $7 million in programming for the expansion of infant and toddler care, as well as early childhood education.
The budget includes enough funding to allocate 10 percent of the county budget to reserves by next year, which county officials have said is key to keeping the county’s Triple-A bond rating intact. Triple-A bond rating is the highest possible rating from all three Wall Street bond rating agencies which affirms the county’s “stable” economic outlook. The budget increases spending on recreation, libraries and the police and fire departments, and provides more than $14.5 million in grants to nonprofit organizations.
In a news release, County Executive Marc Elrich said he was pleased the council’s budget endorsed 99.7% of his original proposal. “This budget addresses our most pressing needs in a fiscally responsible manner despite lower-than-predicted revenues. The budget starts to correct chronic understaffing in a number of departments that has driven excessive overtime and that contributes to the need for perpetual mid-year savings plans,” he wrote. Elrich also added that he was disappointed that the council did not fully fund the county union contract.
“I wanted to honor the commitment that the prior administration made to some of our longest serving employees by fully restoring a service increment increase that had been cut in 2011. As only one in ten County employees still qualify for this increase, I believed then and I still believe that it was completely affordable,” Elrich wrote.
Article by Dhruv Pai of Montgomery Blair High School
Graphic by Claire Yang of Winston Churchill High School