The Montgomery County Council will be holding multiple public hearings and forums in April to gather residents’ input on County Executive Marc Elrich’s (D) proposed $7.1 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2025, which begins July 1.
The council, which is tasked with reviewing and finalizing the budget proposal, will hold four public hearings during both regular daytime council meetings and at night to hear from the public on all aspects of the proposed budget. All hearings will be held at the council office building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. Those interested in testifying must preregister by visiting the council’s public hearings calendar. The deadline to sign up is 9 a.m. April 5. The hearings will be held:
- April 8, 1:30 p.m.;
- April 8, 7 p.m.;
- April 9, 1:30 p.m.; and
- April 9, 7 p.m.
Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large), chair of the council’s Education and Culture Committee, will host two public forums to get input on the education portion of the budget. Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Interim Superintendent Monique Felder and Montgomery College President Jermaine Williams will be part of the discussions. Questions can be submitted in advance at cmjawando.link/mocoedforums:
- April 3, 6 p.m., Montgomery College Germantown Campus Bioscience Education Center, 20200 Observation Drive, Germantown; and
- April 16, 6 p.m., Montgomery Blair High School, 51 University Boulevard East, Silver Spring.
Elrich’s proposal represents a 4.9% spending increase from the current fiscal year’s budget. While Elrich’s proposed operating budget has incited less controversy than last year’s because he is not proposing a property tax rate increase, a $54 million gap between his proposal and what the school board wants to spend has led to criticism from the local teachers union and other stakeholders.
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2025, which starts July 1, includes $3.3 billion for MCPS, funding 98.2% of the county school board’s request. The total school spending represents a $107 million increase over spending in the current fiscal year, but also represents about a $60 million cut in the school board’s funding request, according to board documents. The proposal also includes full funding for Montgomery College’s $334 million request.