Gaithersburg officials are scrambling for a way to pay for city services in case Mayor Sidney Katz and City Council members can’t settle a budget dispute by July 1, the start of the city’s fiscal 2008.
The roughly $50 million budget narrowly passed in a 3-2 vote Monday night, but Katz has said he might veto it. It would take four council members voting together to override a mayoral veto.
Katz is unhappy with a $250,000 line item that would fund a home ownership assistance program for displaced tenants. He said he supports the concept of helping displaced renters become homeowners but does not feel the current proposal has been fully thought out.
“It’s more than just money that we need to review,” Katz said. “We need to make certain we have had the appropriate discussion process so that we create a program that helps as many people as possible.”
Katz cited a 2006 home ownership pilot program intended to aid apartment dwellers displaced from a Gaithersburg building where the owner wanted to construct luxury townhomes. Only seven residents of the 198-unit building took advantage of the home ownership incentives, according to Assistant City Manager Fred Felton.
“We need to determine why our first attempt at this kind of pilot program was only accessible to seven individuals before we try this again,” Katz said.
Meanwhile, the city charter does not include a specific method to allow Gaithersburg to operate on an extension of the current budget year, so city officials are hunting for backup plans.
City Manager David B. Humpton said in a written statement that he and other city staff members “are working to develop the necessary documents that might allow the government to continue with minimal disruption to city residents should no agreement be reached.”
Katz said he will announce whether he will veto the budget ordinance at a special 7:30 p.m. Thursday meeting between himself and City Council at City Hall.
