County Executive Elrich to Hold ‘Community Conversation’ on FY 2025 Budget on Monday, Dec. 11 at Leisure World

Per Montgomery County: “Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, along with the County’s regional services offices and community partners, is hosting a series of 10 “Community Conversations” to seek input on the Fiscal Year 2025 Operating Budget. The last conversation, from 2-3:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 11, will be a hybrid meeting that will focus on issues important to senior residents.

The in-person Seniors Community Conversation will be held at Leisure World in the crystal ballroom of Clubhouse 1. Leisure World is located at 3701 Rossmore Blvd. in Silver Spring. Only Leisure World residents may participate in-person, but anyone can view the meeting online. Click here to view online. In addition, a satellite viewing location will be set up at the Wheaton Senior Center, which is located at11701 Georgia Ave. (in the social hall) in Wheaton.

Seven of the 10 conversations were conducted in English. For a County first, one of the forums was conducted in Amharic (Oct. 18). The Sept. 21 forum was conducted in Spanish and the Nov. 27 forum was conducted in Chinese.

The County is in the early stages of formulating the FY25 operating budget. County Executive Elrich is required to submit a recommended budget to the County Council by March 15, 2024. The Council then will have two months to review the budget. It must adopt a final budget no later than June 1. The FY25 operating budget will go into effect on July 1.

“This year, we have increased the number of budget forums from eight to 10 to be even more inclusive,” said County Executive Elrich. “We hold these community conversations to give people a chance to be heard because their voice matters. Their insight helps drive our decisions and our priorities for the next fiscal year. The budget not only reflects the County’s needs and concerns, but our community’s values and goals. I encourage every resident to participate in these conversations because their voice shapes our path forward.”

The Community Conversation will be televised live on the following cable channels:

• County Cable Montgomery (CCM): Comcast channel 6 HD 996, RCN channel 6 and HD 1056 and Verizon channel 30
• Montgomery College Television (MCTV): Comcast channels 998 & 10, Verizon 10 and RCN 1059 & 10 (Sept. 14 only)
• Montgomery County Public School (MCPS TV): Comcast 34, Comcast HD 998, Verizon 36, RCN 89, RCN HD 1071
• Montgomery Community Media (MCM): Comcast channel 21, HD 995, RCN 21 HD 1055, and Verizon 21
• Montgomery Municipal Channel (MMC): Comcast channel 16 HD 997, RCN 16, Verizon 16
• Takoma Park City TV: Comcast channel 13, RCN channel 13 HD 1060, and Verizon 28 (Sept. 21 and Nov. 13 only)

Montgomery County will provide sign language interpreters and other auxiliary aids or services upon request–with as much advance notice as possible, preferably at least three business days before the event. For more information, contact Karen Falcon at 240-777-6522 or send a request to [email protected]. A good faith effort (up until the time of the event) will be made to provide accommodations.

TTY users can use Maryland Relay 711.”