By Adam Pagnucco.
Council Member Will Jawando has followed through on his position opposing a property tax increase by releasing a plan to slow the growth of county spending instead. As he has previously said, he favors raising income taxes on people who earn at least $500,000 and he would not touch the county’s collective bargaining agreements. He would fund MCPS at $30 million below the school board’s request, which would still give it a $160 million increase. He would also draw on $39 million in reserves.
This plan along with Council President Natali Fani-Gonzalez’s proposal provides a rough outline for how the council can avoid a property tax increase this year. Jawando in particular deserves credit for asking his endorsers in MCEA and SEIU Local 500 to accept less of an increase for MCPS than they would like. Assuming that the math works out, a big question is what happens next year – especially if one-time revenues like reserves and retiree healthcare funds are used for ongoing spending in this year’s budget.
Jawando’s press release is reprinted below.
*****
Councilmember Will Jawando Releases Budget Framework for Working Families
April 27, 2026
From the Office of Councilmember Will Jawando
Montgomery County At-Large Councilmember Will Jawando today released an alternative Fiscal Year 2027 Operating Budget framework that closes a $189 million gap without raising property taxes, without raising income taxes on the vast majority of Montgomery County families, and without breaking the negotiated contracts of County workers or our municipalities. The plan protects schools, nonprofit providers, senior tax credits and working-family income supplements while reducing spending growth from 5.7 percent to approximately 4.2 percent.
The alternative framework identifies $189 million in savings and responsible revenue measures through specific line items, as well as targeted reductions in capital spending growth, use of reserves within policy limits, and a narrow income tax adjustment affecting only the top five percent of households.
“Budgets are moral documents that reflect our values and our priorities,” said Councilmember Jawando. “We can tighten our belts while protecting the people who depend on this county most. Every choice reflects what I believe this community stands for. We cannot afford to balance a budget on the backs of bus drivers, teachers, seniors on fixed incomes, and families already stretched to their limit.”
The plan rests on five core protections that Councilmember Jawando set at the outset of the process:
- No property tax rate increase. The County Executive’s proposed 6.3-cent increase, the largest single-year property tax rate hike since the current system began in 2001, would cost the average single-family homeowner more than $900 a year. Councilmember Jawando’s framework rejects it entirely.
- Full funding for every negotiated collective bargaining agreement.
- Honor our revenue-sharing commitments with our municipalities.
- A 7.5 percent inflation adjustment for nonprofit service providers, three times the 2.5 percent proposed by the County Executive. The nonprofit sector is absorbing simultaneous federal funding cuts and growing demand from residents displaced or destabilized by Washington’s actions. Montgomery County’s nonprofit partners cannot absorb another year of flat-rate contracts.
- Preservation of the Income Tax Offset Credit (ITOC) and the Working Families Income Supplement (WFIS). These two programs protect roughly 192,000 homeowners and approximately 36,000 working-family households respectively. Other proposals would eliminate both.
To close the gap, the framework draws on these specific components:
- Roughly $70 million in itemized program reductions across 60+ line items, including items such as a one-year operational pause of the Montgomery County Green Bank, a temporary adjustment to OPEB pre-funding contributions, deferred replacement of non-emergency County fleet vehicles, and a reduction in tourism marketing funding through the Conference and Visitors Bureau;
- $25 million reduction in capital spending growth (the County Executive’s Capital Improvements Program grew 10.6 percent, more than three times the regional inflation rate);
- $30 million from Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), consistent with a less-than-one-percent reduction in the Board’s request;
- $10 million in department-by-department operating reductions applied to non-essential costs only;
- $2 million from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC);
- $39 million one-time draw on reserves, leaving reserves at approximately 10.1 percent of adjusted general revenue, which is above the County’s policy floor;
- $8 million in new revenue from raising the income tax rate from 3.2 to 3.3 percent only on income above $500,000;
- $8.6 million in savings from reclaiming uncommitted JOBS Act economic development funds authorized in prior years; and,
- $4.6 million in savings from a bilateral agreement with Montgomery College.
“I know what it means when a line in a budget is someone’s bus route, someone’s child care, someone’s paycheck. These choices are hard. But leadership means making them in a way you can look people in the eye and defend. This framework does that. I believe Montgomery County deserves nothing less.”
The Council President has identified approximately $88 million in County government programs that could be reduced. While Councilmember Jawando disagrees with several items on that list, including cuts to municipal revenue-sharing agreements, it confirms that savings of this scale are achievable. Councilmember Jawando has identified reductions across departments, including technology modernization, fleet management, economic development, climate program phasing, and non-essential operating costs, totaling approximately $72 million, while protecting the social safety net, collective bargaining agreements, and direct services to residents.
Councilmember Jawando is already advancing elements of this framework through the Council’s budget process. Today, he sent a memo proposing the $4.6 million bilateral reduction with Montgomery College, which was adopted by the Education and Culture Committee. On Friday, he will send a memo to his colleagues on the Education and Culture Committee requesting that the Council consider a $30 million reduction to the MCPS budget request, consistent with this framework. Additional actions addressing other components will follow as the budget reconciliation process continues.
# # #