Montgomery County government workers can now access a half-million-dollar fund to help them buy homes in the pricey jurisdiction, more than three months after County Council President Mike Knapp accused County Executive Ike Leggett of dropping the ball on the incentive program.
A May 2007 resolution, written by Knapp and passed by the council, set aside $500,000 so county government workers could participate in the Maryland “House Keys for Employees” program. Through the program, the state will match contributions from participating employers —including county governments — toward down payment and closing costs for workers.
At least seven other counties, including Prince George’s, Anne Arundel and Frederick, are already participating in the incentive and in August, Knapp publicly complained that Leggett’s failure to act was hurting Montgomery employees.
In a written statement then, Knapp said workers should not “be paying the price for the executive’s inability to move forward with the program.”
At the time, some in Leggett’s office grumbled about the tone of Knapp’s statement, and blamed the delay on union leaders, who they said were reluctant to renegotiate contracts over the program. They added that the county had allocated $2.3 million for closing-cost assistance over the past four years, but only $350,000 had been used.
Patrick Lacefield, Leggett’s spokesman, said Monday that some county government workers can now tap into the fund, because county officials had reached an agreement with leaders of the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization which represents about 8,000 county employees.
Locally, this means first-time homebuyers who work for Montgomery County government can apply for a $15,000 interest-free loan from the county for down payment or closing costs of their first home. The loans are good for properties worth $429,000 or less, and must be repaid at the time of payoff, refinancing or sale of the home. The county has not yet reached an agreement with local police and fire unions so their members are ineligible at this time.
Knapp concludes his one-year council presidency today.
His public criticism of Leggett in August fueled speculation that he was eyeing a run for county executive.
On Monday, he characterized his relationship with Leggett as “cordial,” and dodged media questions about whether he’d challenge Leggett in 2010, saying he was focused on his current job.
