Montgomery County Council to Hold Committee Meetings on Sept. 21

Patrick Herron September 20, 2023 at 2:33pm

Per Montgomery County: Committees will review the Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY25 Capital Budget and the FY25-FY30 Capital Improvements Program and review Montgomery County Public Schools FY23 End of Year Categorical Transfers; receive an update on adult education efforts from Montgomery College and the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy

The Education and Culture (EC) Committee will meet on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m. to review Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) categorical transfers and receive an update from Montgomery College and the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy (MCAEL) about their adult education efforts.

The members of the EC Committee include Chair Will Jawando and Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz and Kristin Mink.

The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee will also meet at 1:30 p.m. to review Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY25 Capital Budget and the FY25-FY30 Capital Improvements Program (CIP).

The members of the GO Committee include Chair Kate Stewart, Council Vice President Andrew Friedson and Councilmember Sidney Katz.

More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) FY23 Operating Budget Categorical Transfer Request

Review: The EC Committee will review the resolution to approve categorical transfers among seven state budgeting categories totaling $21.4 million for the MCPS FY23 Operating Budget as requested by the Board of Education.

In FY23, four categories ended the year in deficit, which included: Category 9, Student Transportation; Category 10, Operation of Plant and Equipment; Category 11, Maintenance of Plant; and Category 12, Fixed Charges. To fill these deficits, the Board of Education has requested categorical transfers totaling $21.4 million from three categories, which include: Category 3, Instructional Salaries; Category 4, Textbooks and Instructional Supplies; and Category 5, Other Instructional Costs.

Montgomery College and MCAEL Adult Education Efforts

Update: The EC Committee will receive an update on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs from MCAEL and Montgomery College. MCAEL provides grants to partner organizations, implements community learning groups and provides resources, training data analysis and community education related to adult ESOL classes.

Nearly 134,000 Montgomery County residents self-identify as limited in their English proficiency. In FY23, MCAEL delivered more than $1.3 million in grant funding and provided instruction to 6,117 unique learners across 764 classes.

Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY25 Capital Budget and the FY25-FY30 Capital Improvements Program

Review: The GO Committee will review Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY25 Capital Budget and the FY25-FY30 CIP. These guidelines limit certain types of debt that may be programmed for expenditures in the CIP and set the Council’s voting thresholds for the capital budget each year.

The Council must adopt spending affordability guidelines for the aggregate capital budget by the first Tuesday in October of every odd calendar year. By evaluating and setting appropriate debt levels every two years, the Council preserves the County’s fiscal health and manages the amount of general funds required for debt service.