Faced with another budget shortfall for fiscal 2014 — even after property taxes were raised 4.5 percent last year and a “temporary” energy tax failed to sunset as promised — a responsible county executive facing a $134 million deficit would roll up his sleeves and start cutting nonessential spending. Not Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, who instead offered his already well-compensated unionized employees a 13.5 percent pay raise.

Montgomery’s current budget gap is $63 million larger than had been forecast last June, and Leggett has already instructed the heads of all county departments to trim their budgets by at least 5 percent. That’s before the pay raise.