The Gazette and Free State Politics have both covered the state’s continuing budget problems. Now the Gazette informs us that Montgomery County is facing at least a $240 million deficit…
Budget and Taxes
For those who doubt that the County Council mandated actual cuts in its recently passed budget, the Montgomery County Planning Department is providing a sobering rebuttal. In a recent press…
Governor, Leave it Alone (Updated)
One month ago, I criticized Governor O’Malley for allocating $46.3 million for school construction in Montgomery County instead of the $55 million he promised our state delegation in the special…
It’s Over – For Now
After a torturous few months, the Montgomery County Council finally reached a unanimous budget agreement today. But while the bleary-eyed Council Members are no doubt working their way through their…
The County Council gathered today to pass its budget for next year. Because that budget calls for a property tax hike in excess of the rate of inflation, the county’s…
Last Friday, Council Members Duchy Trachtenberg and Phil Andrews voted in the council’s Management and Fiscal Policy (MFP) Committee to recommend $40 million in “labor savings” or “employee participation,” alternative…
The Limits of Labor
Ann Marimow is a good reporter and I respect her work. But in her Sunday Post article, “Union Influence Sways Montgomery Budget Talks,” I believe she overstates her case. Montgomery…
In a moment that defined their political careers, Montgomery County Council Members Duchy Trachtenberg, Phil Andrews and Valerie Ervin put the fate of the public employees’ cost of living adjustments…
Labor Between the Hammer and the Anvil
As Montgomery County’s budget battle draws to a clamorous climax, a new bomb has been dropped.Yesterday, Council Member Trachtenberg sent the following letter calling for a 2 percent cost of…
Montgomery County Council Member Nancy Floreen challenged all county agencies to present a plan to cut their budgets by 2% below the County Executive’s proposal on her blog today.Floreen contends…