Dear Friends,
Our community shares in the grief over the recent killings of Joan Sebastian Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas, during Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity. They were fathers and husbands. They were people who worked, built lives, and contributed to their communities. Their families are grieving, and that grief deserves to be met with truth and accountability, not spin.
Durán Guerrero was 26, a father from Colombia, legally authorized to work in the U.S. His partner watched ICE agents shoot him in front of their home, their three-year-old daughter beside her. Salgado Araujo was a self-made businessman from Mexico who worked in construction, raised three children, and spent years pursuing legal status.
Neither man was the intended target of ICE agents. While the Trump administration claims to be going after the worst of the worst, these immigration agents continue to target the wrong people.
At this point, we can all see a very clear pattern from this administration. We are still waiting for justice for Renee Goode and Alex Pretti, both American citizens, who were killed by federal agents earlier this year for voicing their frustration with what they were witnessing around Minneapolis. In case after case, no agent has faced real consequences. At least 10 people have been killed during federal immigration operations since this administration’s deportation campaign began. Nearly 50 have died in ICE custody. These are not coincidences: they are the predictable result of an agency operating with almost no outside accountability.
Neither ICE agent in Maine nor Texas was wearing a body camera. That is a choice this administration has made, and it is inexcusable. Gil Kerlikowske, the former U.S. Border Patrol Commissioner, told NPR that ICE’s street tactics are so far outside standard law enforcement practice that it “shocks the conscience”, describing agents boxing in vehicles and standing in front of them, using tactics reserved elsewhere for felony stops, not routine civil enforcement. ICE agents are clearly not trained or equipped for the encounters they’re creating on our streets.
A person’s immigration status, whether they hold a visa, a work permit, or nothing at all, does not give the federal government an open license to take their life. That should not need to be said.
After these two most recent killings, Homeland Security briefly paused most ICE traffic stops. It lasted only a day. The President himself countermanded it, calling traffic stops one of ICE’s “most important and effective” tools. The tactic that killed two men is already back, not because an investigation cleared it, but because the President said so online. And he dared to praise ICE for these traffic stops (emphasizing what he has made painfully clear), that he wants to eliminate immigrants who are here one way or another.
Here in Montgomery County, we use body-worn cameras. We have careful protocols for when and how to wear them and what happens to the footage.
Montgomery County joins the many advocates demanding accountability. Everyone responsible—the agents who fired, the agency that sent them out untrained and uncovered, and the administration now pushing to resume the practice that killed them—must be held accountable. We need independent investigations into both shootings, conducted by agencies with no chain of command to ICE. Accountability that stops at a misleading press release is not accountability.
To our immigrant residents: we have tools and services to help you navigate these difficult and troubling times. The Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center can connect you to services, including know-your-rights presentations and legal screenings. Our ICE Reporting Portal is also active; it exists because ICE and the federal government needs to know the American people are watching, documenting, and building a record, one that will be used to hold accountable anyone who tramples the Constitution, guts due process, and takes lives while doing it.
Property Tax Questions and Concerns
Property tax bills have been arriving in mailboxes across the County, and we are certainly seeing reactions on social media and in the emails my office receives.
It was said that the Council did not raise taxes so many homeowners are surprised to see an increase in their bills; it is due to the elimination of a $692 property tax credit that most homeowners qualified for. This credit, known as the Income Tax Offset Credit (ITOC), was zeroed out by the County Council to raise much needed revenue. As you may know, I had proposed a property tax rate increase to raise that revenue, when I submitted my budget, but my proposal more fairly distributed the impact. By rejecting my proposal and instead eliminating the largest property tax credit most people qualify for, the Council raised all the additional revenue on the backs of homeowners and left commercial property tax rates untouched. Additionally, their approach disproportionally impacted lower value homes more than higher value homes as you can see by the chart above; it is a regressive tax. By eliminating the ITOC, which is a property tax credit that more than 201,000 households in the County used, the Council essentially raised your property tax by a flat $692. Under the Council plan, 88% of homeowners are paying more than under my proposal.
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Additionally, the Council changed the income tax structure trying to make it more progressive, which is a good goal, but the result that anyone earning $600,000 or less will pay lower income taxes, creating large problems for next year’s budget and could harm services for residents. Progressivity in the income tax should be targeted to help low earners the most, and this change does not do that. Given that there appears to be no let-up from the damage inflicted on the local economy by Trump, we do not anticipate an increase in revenues sufficient to fill that gap and address the effects of inflation.
The Council’s revenue path meant that they also reduced the increase for for Montgomery County Public Schools, and MCPS announced a series of layoffs as a result, which will have impacts in the classrooms in the coming school year. That will hurt our schools. A property tax increase was the way to maintain services, adequately fund bonds for construction of schools and infrastructure, and address growing needs at a time when the Feds and State shifted more costs to the County. Even though taxes went up for homeowners because of the elimination of the ITOC, school funding was cut, economic development funds got cut (ironic because that’s meant to grow the tax base), and some social services were cut. Unfortunately, this was not our only choice.
Just for perspective, I want to point out that the residential tax rates in Frederick, Howard, Prince George’s, and Fairfax counties are all higher than ours, which is $1.04 per $100. The District of Columbia (D.C.) is substantially lower at 85 cents. DC is lower for residential properties because its commercial property tax rates range from $1.66 for property assessed at less than $5 million to $1.89 for property assessed at over $10 million. In Fairfax County, special tax districts like those in Tysons and Reston, have tax rates approaching $1.50. On top of that, Fairfax County gets a business licensing tax that brings in $200 million a year to the county. No Maryland county has similar authority.
I have been pushing the County Council to support state legislation to create differential tax rates for commercial and residential property, like Virginia and D.C. have. Still, the Council has refused to support that legislation, year after year. That decision means that commercial and residential properties pay the same rate – and that’s not fair. When we raise residential rates, 80% of what a penny gets us actually comes from residential property. Only 20% comes from commercial property.
I say this because we could have restored ways to create a fairer system, adopted successful taxing structures, and put less burden on our homeowners. As a Councilmember, I am going to push again to create a fairer tax system that better aligns with our economic competitors. County Council policies to reduce taxes on the private sector have been a race to the bottom, and instead of bringing us jobs because we’re the cheap date, they have left us without both jobs and revenue. Absent a major rethink of how we raise revenue, this next budget will see the problems in the last budget magnified.
For homeowners who feel that pinch and hurt, I want to share information that could help ease the burden.
- The Maryland Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit offers real relief based on your income versus your tax bill, but you have to apply every year, by Sept. 1.
If you think your home assessment is too high, you have the right to appeal within 45 days of the Notice of Assessment, which is printed on the form sent by the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. You can also request a property worksheet from the assessment office to see exactly how they determined their number.
Data Center Hearings Next Week
Last month, I signed an executive order pausing new data center permits in Montgomery County. Before we start approving large hyperscale facilities that could have serious long-term consequences for our power grid, our environment, and our land use, I wanted to make sure the County Council had enough time to put real, comprehensive safeguards in place. That work is now moving forward.
The County Council’s Economic Development (ECON) Committee will meet on Wednesday, July 22, to review two data center moratorium bills (Bill 19-26E and Bill 24-26E).
Bill 19-26E would only last six months and would not cover the current proposed data center in Dickerson; Bill 24-26E would last two years and would include the current proposals. According to the Council President Natali Fani-Gonzalez, who chairs the ECON Committee, if the committee favors one of the bills, it will proceed to full Council for a work session and action on Tuesday, July 28.
On the same day (July 22), the County Council’s Planning Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee will be considering ZTA 26-01, which would establish clear definitions and limitations on data centers going forward. You can find information about both bills here and the committee hearing schedule here.
We need to get the policy right before the permits go out. I’ll keep everyone updated as the Council moves forward.
Major Upgrade for MCPD’s Drone Program
It is always good to be careful with new technology: wanting to know if it actually works before we lean on it and wanting real guardrails around privacy before we expand its use. I’m glad to report that our Drone as First Responder (DFR) program, which has been doing good work since 2023, is about to become much more capable.
Montgomery County Department of Police (MCPD) is moving to a next-generation system built around Skydio drones housed in automated docking stations. They will be used in six locations across the County, two docks apiece, so we can launch multiple drones at once when multiple things are happening at once (because they often are). With FAA sign-off, these drones will be able to fly beyond the visual line of sight, which sounds technical but just means faster response times and more hours of coverage, without needing someone stationed on a rooftop to keep an eye on things. All of it will be piloted centrally from our Public Safety Joint Operations Center, so dispatch and coordination occur in one place.
Downtown Silver Spring, White Oak, Gaithersburg/Montgomery Village, and Germantown are already up and running with the new system. Wheaton and Bethesda will follow later this summer.
I know drones make some people nervous about their privacy, but our police drones respond only to 911 calls or assist officers already on scene. We don’t utilize facial recognition, equip them with microphones, or angle the lenses to capture anything during transit. In other words, we won’t happen to catch something going on in your backyard as they fly overhead. And every single deployment gets logged publicly on MCPD’s DFR Dashboard. You can learn why a drone was dispatched and where it flew to. That transparency is part of our commitment to doing this the right way. We’ve now logged more than 5,000 drone flights, with an average response time of less than one minute and many times faster than we can get an officer there.
The goal here isn’t more surveillance for its own sake. It’s getting eyes on a scene faster in a safe and reliable manner. That allows us to make better decisions and keep people safe, making it a public safety asset worth investing in.
Focusing on Mental Health
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, making it a good time to highlight a program developed in Montgomery County to help teens help other teens deal with mental health issues.
The Youth Ambassador Program is dedicated to preventing suicide and substance misuse among teenagers. It’s also there to help with mental health concerns. The program operates on the belief that youth-led efforts are uniquely powerful because students are uniquely connected to their peers and understand the contemporary challenges they face.
The program partners with Montgomery County public high schools, with ambassadors in 17 schools this past school year. It empowers students to take action through two distinct levels of involvement:
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- Social Media Advocacy — Ambassadors use their digital platforms to share animated posters and educational content designed to reduce stigma and connect peers to vital resources.
- Community Leadership — Students lead more intensive activities, such as organizing group mindfulness sessions, creating self-soothing kits, hosting educational movie screenings, or bringing in professional speakers to raise awareness within their schools.
To support those facing emotional challenges, the program promotes five practical steps (shown in the graphic above) to help someone experiencing a mental health crisis.
This week, I had one of the ambassadors and the program coordinator on my media briefing. They focused on the dangers of doom scrolling, advice that could be adopted by anyone who spends too much time on their phone. I want to thank Mónica Martín, the chief of Behavioral Health and Crisis Services in our Department of Health and Human Services, for her work in overseeing the program and introducing us to Sarah Insa Sadio, a student at my alma mater, Einstein High School, and Kameron Pondexter, the program coordinator.
There is no reason that someone dealing with anxiety or depression should feel shame in reaching out for help. We also don’t want cost to be a barrier to getting help.
Please remember that there is always help available through the 988 lifeline, whether by phone, text, or chat. Here in the County, our Crisis Center is available 24/7 and without an appointment. It can be reached by calling 240-777-4000. You can also visit BTheOne.org for more information.
During this month, the focus is on the unique challenges that racial and ethnic minorities in the United States face when it comes to mental illness. We want everyone to have access to the same options to help eliminate the disparities we see in the Black, Latino, Asian American, and other communities.
Risk factors that can play a role in developing mental illness include:
- Use of alcohol or drugs.
- Feeling lonely or isolated.
- Biological factors or chemical imbalances in the brain.
- Adverse childhood experiences, like child abuse or sexual assault.
- Experiences tied to ongoing medical conditions, like cancer or diabetes.
Let’s help everyone feel comfortable addressing mental illness, no matter their race, gender, or nationality.
Second Heat Wave of the Summer
We had a few days of typical July weather before the heat returned. The heat we dealt with is not just uncomfortable; it can quickly be life-threatening.
And on top of the heat, we are also dealing with poor air quality. Haze from wildfires in Canada got so bad that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments moved the air quality monitor to its most concerning level on Friday. Its rating is based on the Air Quality Index, a national monitoring system that indicates how clean or polluted the air is and highlights associated health concerns.
Weather experts say conditions should improve as we move through the weekend, but the unhealthy air could prompt unexpected cancellations of outdoor activities. In the meantime, anyone who experiences trouble breathing or suffers from heart or lung disease should avoid outdoor activities. The same warning goes for older adults and children. Everyone should keep outdoor activity to a minimum under conditions like these or postpone lengthy outdoor events.
Here’s what I’m asking everyone to do.
- Stay inside as much as you can during the hottest parts of the day. If you don’t have air conditioning at home, find somewhere that does, like your nearest library, community rec center, or shopping mall. A fan helps, but when it’s this hot, it alone isn’t enough to protect you. Take a cool shower and head somewhere nearby with air conditioning.
- Drink water. By the time you’re thirsty, you’re already behind.
- Check on your neighbors. Check on older adults and anyone you know who might not have reliable air conditioning. A phone call or a knock on the door can genuinely save someone’s life.
- NEVER leave a child or a pet in a parked car. Not for a minute. Temperatures inside a vehicle can hit 130 degrees in minutes.
- If someone shows signs of heat stroke — confusion, hot red skin, body temperature over 103 degrees, or loss of consciousness — that is a medical emergency. Call 911 immediately.
For outdoor workers in construction or landscaping, you have a right to water, shade, and rest under Maryland law. When the heat index hits 100 degrees, employers are required to give you at least 15 minutes of rest every hour. Know your rights.
I encourage you to sign up for Alert Montgomery to receive emergency updates sent directly to your phone. And follow the County on social media for the latest information. You can also visit our Montgomery Be Cool website.
FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final Watch Party
By Sunday, I hope the heat is a bad memory so more people can enjoy a special event hosted by our Department of Recreation. The Cup Fans Unite: Final Watch Party will take place on Sunday, July 19, in Wheaton.
From 1 – 2:30 p.m., our youngest soccer fans can test their skills with drills and soccer-themed activities in the parking lot behind 2425 Reedie Drive. We’ve laid down grass to help everyone enjoy the game once it starts at 3 p.m. Fans can bring their own chairs or blankets to watch the final match on two giant screens.
The area will be open until the final whistle blows. Attendance is free, and food and drinks will be available for purchase.
Watching in community creates unmistakable energy, so bring the family and join us as we celebrate our country’s passion for soccer or fútbol, if you prefer. Make sure you keep an eye on the County’s social media channels to ensure the event is still happening and not canceled because of the weather.
As always, my appreciation for all of you,
Marc Elrich
County Executive
Read the original article at mcgov