Montgomery County Council set to approve $7.6B budget with ‘unyielding commitment’ to education, public safety

The Montgomery County Council held its straw vote on a billion spending plan Thursday that includes billion for instruction The unanimous vote comes a week before the formal and final council vote on May Related stories Montgomery County Council has a plan to fund schools and avoid a tax increase Montgomery Co Council passes billion budget criticizes proposed school cuts Montgomery County Council approves billion operating budget In a briefing with reporters Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart declared the spending plan for fiscal year indicates the council s unyielding commitment to help instruction residents safety social safety net services and additional funds for our dedicated employees who are essential to all areas of general organization Stewart reported the sponsorship for the county s priorities was accomplished through savings and holding the line on property and income taxes referring to the council s rejection of County Executive Marc Elrich s plans to first consider an increase to property taxes and then look at increasing the county s income tax rate Instead of boosting taxes to fund the school system s billion budget request the council opted to pull money from the retiree healthcare benefit trust fund Stewart indicated that the one-time funding maneuver was initially resisted by the council but that under current conditions it was the right move for the moment I feel really confident in the plan that we put together here to make sure that we are funding our schools and continue to be fiscally responsible in the county Stewart declared in regards to the trust fund money potentially affecting the county s triple-A bond rating Stewart noted as the council wrapped up its budget deliberations it was able to keep in reserves Teaching The school system will get billion an increase of more than million over the last spending plan Included in the plan is a boost to base salaries for staff by There is also funding for special tuition positions which includes paraeducators who endorsement teachers in the classroom The plan also includes funding for new school measure staff positions General safety The county s police department will be funded with million an increase of million over last year There s for the latest expansion of the department s Drone as First Responder venture in Germantown There are already drone programs in downtown Silver Spring and Bethesda The police budget also includes added precaution staff at Progress Place the Silver Spring facility that provides services to the homeless population in Montgomery County The bulk latest Point in Time survey led by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments exhibited an increase in people experiencing homelessness in the county from in to in The county s Fire and Rescue Utility got a increase in funding to million The State s Attorney s Office budget also gets million Other community safety budget items include million for the Sheriff s Department million for the Office of Animal Services and million for the Office of Consumer Protection The OPC will get two new positions intended to help enforce new rule on landlord-tenant rights The fee telephone subscribers pay will go up from cents to Fitness and Human Services The Department of Vitality and Human Services would see an increase of million for a total of million Children Youth and Family Services would get million for programs including protection prevention recovery and financial assistance services for children and families Nearly million is being budgeted for general wellbeing services that include complaint prevention programs and partnerships to boost community access to wellbeing services Other expenditures include million for affordable housing and rental assistance programs and funding that allows the Department of Transportation to eliminate fares on the county s Ride-On buses A final vote on the budget is set for May Once passed the budget would go into effect on July Source