The Montgomery County Council approved a $4.4 billion budget Thursday that raises the cost of benefits for all employees as well as increases property taxes and an assortment of fees in closing a $300 million shortfall. Yet, without question, the most fervent opposition to the widespread cuts came from the public schools system — even though the agency would receive more taxpayer dollars next fiscal year.
After the council unanimously passed the budget in a straw vote, school board President Christopher Barclay said the funding blueprint could “eventually undermine the tremendous progress we have made.”
| Budget changes |
| The Montgomery County Council made nearly $25 million worth of restorations to County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposed budget, including: |
| • $1.03 million for six school resource officers and their vehicles |
| • $2.33 million for library materials, staff and operating costs |
| • $1.46 million for community grants |
| • $211,500 for the Montgomery County Volunteer Firefighters Association |
| • $100,000 to reinstate the Kids Ride Free Program |
“The council has stated that they support the school system and that its cuts will not hurt the classroom,” he said. “That simply isn’t true. Every school will feel the effects of these cuts.”
Yet funding totals showcase a different picture for the nationally recognized public schools.
With additional state aid included, the schools system would receive $31 million more than the current year. In total, public schools would account for 56 percent of spending in the Montgomery budget — a 1 percent dip from this year.
And nonschool officials, including County Executive Ike Leggett, say the council’s cuts would not affect classroom services.
In recent days, however, the teachers union blanketed households with fliers warning that property values would drop if the school cuts were implemented.
The council proposed $25 million in cuts in county funding from the current budget, mostly by reducing benefits for its roughly 20,000 school employees.
Among the most contested measures in the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1: Government workers would pay 5 percent more for point of service health care plans, 2 percent more for defined-benefit pensions and 2 percent more next fiscal year for 401(k)-style arrangements. The council called for school employees to pay 5 percent more into health care plans and reduce pension benefits in a proposal that mirrors a state provision passed earlier this year.
Many county officials are criticizing the schools’ response, saying the agency is turning a blind eye to cutbacks in public safety, parks, libraries and other public services.
“What they are doing certainly isn’t helpful — acting like it’s the end of days,” said Council President Valerie Ervin, D-Silver Spring. “We can do this without affecting the classroom. Their version is not reality.”
Residents’ pocketbooks once again will be hit under the new budget.
Property taxes will increase by 1 percent on average; residents will pay a 5-cent bag tax beginning in January and an 8.5 percent rate increase in water and sewage fees.
The $4.4 billion budget is a 2.2 percent increase from this fiscal year, when the county closed a historic billion-dollar gap. Though a formality, the council will formally adopt the funding plan on May 26.
