Montgomery County Council Public Hearings and Committee Meeting on April 9, 2025

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Council to hold multiple public hearings, including the FY26 Operating Budget; Education and Culture Committee to begin review of the FY26 Operating Budget for Montgomery County Public Schools

The Education and Culture (EC) Committee will meet on Wednesday, April 9 at 9:30 a.m. to review the FY26 Operating Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

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

The Council will conduct several public hearings at 2:30 p.m.

The Council also will hold public hearings on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Operating Budgets and FY26-31 Public Services Program and Fiscal Policy for the Montgomery County Government, Montgomery College, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), WSSC Water and MCPS.

In addition, the Council will hold a public hearing on a resolution to approve a more than $10.5 million supplemental appropriation for the MCPS Bus Depot and Maintenance Relocation Project. In addition, the Council will hold public hearings on resolutions to approve FY26 Transportation Fees, Charges and Fares, FY26 Solid Waste Service Charges, the FY26 Water Quality Protection Charge and the County 9-1-1 Fee.

More detail on each agenda item is provided below.

FY26 Operating Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for Montgomery County Public Schools

Review: The EC Committee will review the Board of Education’s more than $3.4 billion requested FY26 Operating Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 CIP for MCPS. The committee has three additional meetings scheduled to review the MCPS budget on April 23, 25 and 30. In addition, a tentative joint EC and Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee meeting will be held to review items that fall under the jurisdiction of both committees.

The Board of Education’s adopted FY26 tax-supported budget (excluding grants and enterprise funds) is $3,414,222,949, an increase of $308,333,538 or 9.9 percent compared to the current FY 2025 tax-supported budget. The FY26 budget assumes Montgomery County will continue to fund $27.2 million of MCPS retiree health benefits costs from the county’s Consolidated Other Post Employment Benefits Trust Fund.

The County Executive recommends $3.62 billion in funding for MCPS of, which funds more than 99 percent of the Board of Education’s request. This recommendation includes $250 million of the $284 million in additional local funding requested by the Board and is $256 million more than the required Maintenance of Effort (MOE) level. Additional detail is available in the staff report.

Public hearings: The Council will hold the last of five public hearings on the proposed FY26 Operating Budget and FY26-31 Public Services Program and Fiscal Policy for the following: Montgomery County Government, Montgomery College, M-NCPPC, WSSC Water and MCPS.

Reference copies of the recommended FY26 Operating Budget are available on the Office of Management and Budget’s website or by calling 240-777-2800. Other agency budgets are available from the individual agencies and their websites. The Council encourages comments on both spending and revenue issues.

The Council will hold the following hybrid public hearings at 2:30 p.m. Residents can visit the Council website to learn about the multiple ways to provide testimony .

The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website .

Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream .

Release ID: 25-124
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926, Benjamin Sky Brandt 240-777-7884

For updates and link to press release, see here: http://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgportalapps/Press_Detail.aspx?Item_ID=46858

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Montgomery County Council Public Hearings and Committee Meeting on April 9, 2025

Council to hold multiple public hearings, including the FY26 Operating Budget; Education and Culture Committee to begin review of the FY26 Operating Budget for Montgomery County Public Schools