Montgomery’s top elected official proposed slashing everything from youth softball to ambulance service Thursday in an effort to save $50 million in current spending, while saying state budget woes make further cuts likely.
County Executive Ike Leggett’s midyear savings plan must first be approved by county council members, who say they’ll begin reviewing his proposal next week and hope to vote on the savings package before Thanksgiving. The county faces a $250 million budget gap for the next fiscal year.
“We have worked to identify savings that could be realized without severely impacting direct services, especially to public safety and our most vulnerable residents,” Leggett said in the savings memo. “However, some service reductions are unavoidably included. …”
Ambulance services for Glen Echo, Hyattstown and Laytonsville are on the chopping block. Leggett recommended cutting back ambulance staffing in those communities to 10 hours a day/5 days a week, instead of the 24 hour/7 day a week staffing currently in effect. The memo acknowledged increased emergency response times are likely.
Leggett’s spokesman Patrick Lacefield said “the network will be stretched but we’ll still have the coverage necessary because other neighboring stations will be available to help.”
Last year, council members voted down similar cuts to ambulance staffing.
“We may have to potentially accept some things we wouldn’t accept last year,” Council President Mike Knapp said. “I think you don’t start with cuts to things like public safety but at the same time if we don’t like these cuts, we have to figure out what we can do.”
In addition, Leggett asked the school system to cut $19.4 million from its current budget, but school officials said that would be especially tough since they have 1,500 more students this year than expected.
Schools spokesman Steve Simon said district officials enacted “a stringent hiring and spending freeze” in early September that is projected to save about $3 million.
“We’ll continue to restrict spending, but it is doubtful we will reach $19 million,” Simon said.
Leggett’s plan also altered 13 different county bus routes, mostly by cutting midday or weekend service along certain lines. It eliminated the county’s spring youth softball program and cut the winter police recruit class to 15 people, even though the budget allowed only 20 cadets this year instead of the usual 40 to 50 recruits.
