“The Council’s budget deliberations carefully balanced our strong and steadfast commitment to our students and teachers with our residents’ many other priorities, while also upholding our responsibility to be fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said Glass. “We fully funded teacher contracts and met salary and benefit agreements for our hardworking first responders, police and healthcare workers. At the same time, we cut the County Executive’s proposed 10 percent property tax hike by more than half. I’m grateful to my Council colleagues who brought new and unique perspectives to the table and shared a commitment to transparency and oversight every step of the way.”

The Council’s budget deliberations this year focused on balancing the needs of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) with those of other County agencies and departments, as well as reducing the 10-cent property tax rate proposed by County Executive Marc Elrich. Following weeks of deliberations and careful review of Council and committee recommendations, the Council lowered the proposed tax rate and was still able to provide historic funding for MCPS.

The 11 members of the Council had very different views and opinions on this budget. Some wanted higher taxes, some wanted lower. This is what democracy looks like. The end result was one of consensus, recognizing that we all supported the labor contracts of our county and school employees, maintaining a strong social safety net, and preserving our reserve fund.

While there may be disagreements about the details of the budget, there should be no disagreement that this budget process has been more transparent than any other in recent memory. Each committee chair reported their recommendations to the full Council in open, televised meetings and I abolished the omnibus budget consent calendar.