The Montgomery County Council will meet Wednesday, May 13, to review and take expected straw votes on several Fiscal Year 2027 budget-related resolutions, including proposals involving County taxes, fees, and service charges.
Items on the agenda include a proposed progressive County income tax structure, increases to the County 9-1-1 fee, Community Use of Public Facilities fees, Water Quality Protection Charges, and solid waste service charges. The Council will also review transportation-related fee changes, including new fines for blocking bus lanes and bikeways, as well as electric vehicle charging fees in County parking districts.
“The Montgomery County Council will meet on Wednesday, May 13 at 9:30 a.m. to review and is expected to take straw votes on seven Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Operating Budget resolutions related to revenue, including the resolution to set Montgomery County income tax rates.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Resolution to approve the FY27 Community Use of Public Facilities Fees
Review and straw vote expected: The Council will review a resolution to approve an increase to Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF) fees. The County Executive’s recommended FY27 Operating Budget included a proposed fee increase between 7.5 to 12.5 percent for both Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) facilities and the Silver Spring Civic Building. CUPF is a fee-supported enterprise fund within the Executive Branch that accounts for fiscal activity related to making public spaces, such as schools, available to community organizations, commercial users and others during non-school hours.
The Education and Culture (EC) Committee recommends that the Council establish a 7.5 percent fee rate increase for all permit-holder categories for MCPS facilities and for the Silver Spring Civic Building. The 7.5 percent fee rate increase is projected to allow CUPF to achieve solvency and meet the required 10 percent end-of-year reserve as a percentage of total resources for the entire six-year fiscal plan period of FY27-FY32.
Resolution to approve the FY27 County 9-1-1 Fee
Review and straw vote expected: The Council will review a resolution to increase the County 9-1-1 fee. The County Executive proposed an increase from $1.47 to $1.93 per telephone subscriber line per month, estimating an additional $9.07 million in FY27 to close the projected gap between expenditures and current collection levels. State law permits the County to increase the fee by an amount sufficient to cover the County’s projected operational costs for the 9-1-1 system. The Council’s Public Safety (PS) Committee recommends approval of the resolution.
Resolution to approve FY27 Transportation Fees, Charges and Fares
Review and straw vote expected: The Council will review a resolution on FY27 Transportation Fees, Charges and Fares. The County Executive’s recommended resolution includes changes to the adopted FY26 resolution. These changes include the creation of a new $75 fine for driving, standing or parking in a bus lane and adding a new per kilowatt-hour (kWh) charge for electric vehicle charging in all Parking Lot Districts. The resolution also includes a new $60 fine for stopping, standing or parking on a bikeway, pursuant to Bill 28-25; a $250 hearing fee for the Residential Permit Parking (RPP) program; and the elimination of all Transportation Management District fees, pursuant to Bill 24-25.
The Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee recommends approval of the County Executive’s resolution. The Council indicated its unanimous support for the committee’s recommendations via a straw vote on May 6.
Resolution to establish the FY27 Water Quality Protection Charge
Review and straw vote expected: The Council will review a resolution to set the FY27 Water Quality Protection Charge and Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) rate. The County Executive recommended an ERU rate of $157.50, which represents an increase of $10.50, or 7.1 percent, from the approved FY26 rate of $147. The Council is required to set the ERU rate each fiscal year by resolution. The resolution must be adopted no later than the date the Council approves the annual operating budget. At a meeting held on April 20, the TE Committee supported the County Executive’s proposed Water Quality Protection Charge. On May 7, the full Council preliminarily approved the FY27 DEP Water Quality Protection Fund budget and the FY27 Water Quality Protection Charge as recommended by the County Executive.
Introduction and vote expected: The Council will introduce and review Executive Regulation 2-26, Systems Benefit Charges – Residential Waste Estimates. The systems benefit charges assumed for the FY27 budget for the Department of Environmental Protection, Recycling and Resource Management Division (RRMD) are based on an estimated annual generation of 1.6213 tons of solid waste per single-family residence and 0.7612 tons of solid waste per multi-family residence. According to the County Code, the County Executive must establish by regulation the estimated amount of solid waste generated per County household. The estimates of per household solid waste generation are necessary to calculate the single-family residential and multi-family residential base and incremental system benefit charges.
Resolution to approve the FY27 Solid Waste Service Charges
Review and straw vote expected: The Council will review a resolution to approve FY27 Solid Waste Service Charges. The solid waste resolution sets the rates property owners will pay based on the sector, the tip fee for different kinds of waste dropped at the transfer station and leaf vacuuming charges for residents in areas where the County is responsible for leaf collection.
At a meeting held on May 6, the Council concurred with the County Executive’s recommendation to increase the Transfer Station tipping fee for refuse in open top containers from $93 to $105 per ton. In addition, the Council concurred with the recommendation to increase the tipping fee for concrete, dirt and rubble material from $70 to $75 per ton and increase the disposal fee from $56.21 to $61.43. The Council also concurred with no change to the refuse collection and the leaf vacuuming charges.
The County Executive’s recommended FY27 Solid Waste Service Charges also included a $9.11 increase for single-family residential, a $2.94 increase for multi-family residential and a $106.05 increase per 2,000 square feet of gross floor area for non-residential sectors. At the May 6 meeting, the Council held a straw vote to recommend a $15.62 increase for single-family residential, a $6 increase for multi-family residential and a $177.63 increase per 2,000 square feet of gross floor area for non-residential sectors. The Council’s recommendation is intended to offset additional costs to the Disposal Fund. Additional detail is available in the Council staff report.
Resolution to set the County Income Tax Rates
Review and straw vote expected: The Council will review a resolution to set a new progressive County income tax rate structure. The proposed resolution would set County income tax rates of 2.70 percent of an individual’s Maryland taxable income of $1 to $50,000; 3 percent of an individual’s Maryland taxable income of $50,001 to $150,000; and 3.3 percent of an individual’s Maryland taxable income greater than $150,000. The structure would take effect the taxable year beginning Jan. 1, 2027, and continue for subsequent taxable years until changed by Council resolution.
The Council discussed the new progressive income tax structure at a meeting held on May 8. The proposal followed the County Executive’s proposal to increase the County income tax rate from 3.2 to 3.3 percent of an individual’s Maryland taxable income for the taxable year beginning after Dec. 31, 2026, and subsequent years.”
