By Adam Pagnucco.
County Executive Marc Elrich has released a statement criticizing the budget approved by the county council in a straw vote yesterday. The council approved a 4.7% property tax hike, which was lower than the executive’s proposed 10% increase, and reduced the executive’s tax-supported recommended budget by $111 million. Elrich’s statement is reprinted below.
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For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 18, 2023
Statement From Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich Regarding the County Council’s Straw Vote on the Fiscal Year 2024 Operating Budget
I want to acknowledge my colleagues on the County Council for their work on getting the Fiscal Year 2024 Operating Budget to its final stage. I appreciate their willingness to consider the proposals I placed before them on March 15. The actions the Council took today in a straw vote on the budget includes 98 percent of my recommended budget and funds many critical services for our residents. I greatly appreciate the unanimous support almost all of my proposals received, including the important compensation increases for our outstanding County employees.
However, I am concerned that the Council’s decision on both the tax rate and level of spending could put us in a difficult situation going forward. First, the Council set the supplemental property tax rate for education below the level of new education spending, which will put us in a deficit for the Montgomery County Public Schools. I greatly appreciate the comments of Councilmembers Stewart, Mink and Jawando, who pointed out this problem during the debate over the tax rate and showed their courage to oppose a rate too low to meet our student needs and our fiscal reality. The budget, as passed, does not address all of the needs highlighted in the school budget, and we do not yet know how MCPS will use these funds since those decisions are not in the purview of the County Council, nor the Executive. Make no mistake: I applaud the vote that Councilmembers Katz, Fani-Gonzales, Balcombe, Luedtke, Sayles, Glass, and Albornoz took to raise additional necessary funding for our schools, but I do remain concerned that the vote today will leave us facing a similar debate next year. I do want to note that after sending my recommended budget over in March, I began talking with Councilmembers about ways to reduce the proposed tax while continuing to provide the needed funding for MCPS.
Additionally, the Council made some confusing and conflicting spending decisions. It rejected increased funding for fuel and utility costs that will also leave the County Government in a difficult position of keeping our buses, police cars and fire trucks running. After spending weeks raising outsized concerns about vacant County positions, the Council rejected all of the necessary improvements to our recruitment and training programs. During a time of dramatic climate change, the Council also has rejected many critical investments in our efforts to combat this existential threat.
I am concerned the Council’s actions will force us to request mid-year adjustments to fund basic needs, including fuel and critical services, such as sheltering for the homeless. It is my hope that the Council will work collaboratively with my team to make mid-year additions and changes if they are needed because of items not included in the budget as presented.
As we reach the end of this year’s budget approval process, I want to thank the Executive Branch team for its hard work and contributions in developing this budget, particularly the outstanding staff in the Office of Management and Budget. I also want to thank the hard work and contributions of the Council staff, Montgomery County Public Schools, the Board of Education, Montgomery College, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and the Housing Opportunities Commission.
Finally, I want to thank the many residents of our County who engaged in the budget process and shared their views.
I look forward to working with everyone on issues in the coming year as we continue to make Montgomery County the best place to live and work.
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