The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday passed a spending plan for the next six years, which officials say is needed to avoid shortfalls becoming the new standard for the affluent suburb.

The first such blueprint in the history of the County Council calls for structurally balanced budgets through fiscal 2016 — or budgets not reliant on one-time funding for recurring costs. Reserves would grow from 6 percent to 10 percent by the end of the decade.