County Council members must finalize a tax-relief package today as part of Montgomery’s $3.9 billion budget.
County Executive Douglas Duncan proposed an across-the-board, 9.5-cent reduction in the property tax rate, which would translate into a $380 savings for a home assessed at $400,000.
Council members, however, seem to be leaning toward a smaller reduction paired with a tax credit or rebate to achieve the same goal.
Also today, the council will take up nearly $18 million in community grant requests. On Thursday, council members will tackle more than $24 million in unfunded additions to the executive’s budget proposal, including money for transportation, the homeless, health care for the uninsured and English-language instructionfor adults.
Also still to be determined is how the council will come up with an additional $13.2 million to improve pensions for school system employees. The change follows improvements to teacher pensions at the state level.
The bulk of the council’s work on the budget will be finished by Thursday, and members are to vote on it May 25. Finally, it must be signed by Duncan.
“The budget is half of what we do. The last couple of weeks is when we get everything done,” Council Member Howard Denis, R-1st District, said Tuesday. “I think we will be able to provide more than a little tax relief and will be able to come up with a balanced budget and keep our AAA bond rating.”
