Montgomery County Council seeks input on $7.1 billion proposed 2025 budget
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Discussions over the proposed Montgomery County budget for the next fiscal year are underway.
County councilmembers began holding public hearings this week over the proposed $7.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2025. The purpose of the hearings this week is to inform the councilmembers before they begin to work within committees. The first set of hearings was held on Monday.
If approved, the largest portion of the budget would go towards public education with a proposed $3.3 billion or 46.4%. According to the office of Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, this would provide the third-largest funding increase of $106.8 over last year’s approved budget.
At a public hearing Tuesday, Byron Johns with the Montgomery County NAACP urged county councilmembers to invest in literacy and math programs.
"As you are likely aware, the state of Maryland currently ranks an alarming 40th in the nation according to the national assessment for educational progress scores. This statistic alone should serve as a wake up call for us to prioritize the improvement of our educational system," Johns said.
Many of the comments on Tuesday were related to public education and curriculum. Cathy Stocker, who serves on the Montgomery County Council of PTA’s, said schools are still dealing with impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Though we are all vaccinated and recovered and have reoccupied our school buildings, I think we all acknowledge that we are all still healing. We have reinhabited our schools but our teachers, staff, and students are still rehabilitating," Stocker said. "We all know we are facing big challenges. Let’s not shy away from acknowledging the lost ground and low test scores, and the interruptions to the social and emotional and behavioral development of our students. These big challenges demand a bold and audacious response."
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Stocker, like other participants Tuesday, called for fully funding the schools’ operating budget.
"We understand that budgets are tight and that we must be diligent and strategic about which investments will repel our recovery and most importantly, propel every student’s recovery, leaving no student or group of students behind," she said.
Other participants spoke on the issue of investing in parks and recreational services.
"Those facilities continue to grow thanks to growth in the county, population, sports. It’s critical now to take advantage of the investment you all have made with the programming for operations and maintenance," David Magill said. "Maintenance is particularly critical. It’s not quite as exciting in some ways as operations, but maintenance of facilities is what really allows all the parks’ programs and facilities to move forward."
Ronda Keys spoke on behalf of the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture.
"We support the arts and humanities council’s request for $700,000 in additional funding for the grants as part of their operating budget. Groups in the park will all benefit," Keys said.
Another public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday. The council is expected to adopt the proposed budget in May, with Fiscal Year 2025 beginning on July 1.