Montgomery County Councilmember Dawn Luedtke made the following statement about the Fiscal Year 2027 Operating Budget, the Fiscal Year 2027 Capital Budget and the Fiscal Year 2027-2032 Capital Improvements Program after the Council reached its preliminary agreement today. The Council’s final vote on the capital and operating budget resolutions for Montgomery County is scheduled for May 21.
Below is Councilmember Luedtke’s full statement:
Thank you, Council President, and thank you to our Council staff, and everyone who weighed in during the budget process. I am heartened that we saw new people and new communities show up to fight for their priorities, explain their needs and express their concerns.
Families across Montgomery County are feeling the pressure of rising costs, economic instability and growing anxiety about the future. People are worried about affordability, housing, childcare, healthcare, and whether they will continue to be able to build or sustain a stable life here.
That reality shaped how I approached this budget process.
We could not continue to raise tax rates on people, on top of those rising costs and continued rising property assessments. And we could not continue to grow the structural deficit that will ultimately degrade services and leave us with little flexibility to respond to crises not of our making and outside our control.
I fully understand and respect the obligation to get the budget done so that the government’s work can continue. I know no budget is perfect. I know the importance of compromise. I was prepared to vote on a budget – yesterday – with compromises and that was far from perfect. It was a budget forged through weeks of open and transparent deliberation – through public votes on the dais.
Then, yesterday, literally as we were ready to vote, suddenly that transparent process was replaced by indecision, behind-closed-doors dealmaking, and major last-minute changes. To provide a stark example of this, understand that the reductions in the capital budget you see here today were unknown to Councilmembers even this morning. That is not indicative of a serious deliberative process and is a disservice to our County.
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We are living in what will continue to persist as rough economic waters and we must navigate them with caution and with purpose. Over time, relying too heavily on one-time funding sources and continuing to grow budgets faster than the County’s revenue growth has created real challenges – both for our budget outlook and for residents who are already feeling financially stretched.
What we are voting on today uses so much one-time revenue for ongoing costs, that it grows our projected structural deficit to $293 million. That means the next County Executive and Council will be $293 million short this time next year just to meet the same spending total for the FY 2028 budget.
The decisions then will be even harder than they were this year. There will be significant resources devoted to County government and MCPS that simply won’t exist past June 30, 2027. To compound the problem, there will be fewer reserves available to make up the gap, less ability to once again dip into retirement healthcare funds to make up the difference, and overall fewer budget maneuvers available to plug the hole. That is the definition of unsustainable. It is irresponsible, unfair to our employees, educators, and residents – and I cannot support it.
It’s my sincere desire that we will start immediately on a series of stakeholder meetings with our executive branch partners, our labor partners and our nonprofit community to focus on a long-term strategy. This cannot wait. This has to happen now in order to address the significant revenue gap this budget sets up for this time next year.
Despite my opposition, there are significant investments and things we can be thankful for in this budget – and that it is important to note were already part of the budget that was ready for approval yesterday.
We will continue our strong social safety net services in HHS. We’re making an important investment in additional coverage for uninsured and underinsured people in our County through Montgomery Cares, supporting homelessness prevention and providing needed cost of living adjustments for our adult medical daycare and developmental disability providers at a time of great need as the State steps back from this commitment.
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We’re significantly increasing support for MCPS. The budget that was set to be approved yesterday would have increased the County tax-supported contribution by 4.6% without requiring significant one-time funds. In return, all school stakeholders and County residents deserve strong fiscal management, solid leadership, and an emphasis on student development and performance with safe working and learning conditions.
We’ve made real strides in public safety recruiting and staffing that we’ve solidified with this budget with resources to hire Emergency Call Center operators to fully staff this critical resource and reduce 9-1-1 response times. I am proud of that improvement, and also remain firmly committed to working with our blended fire service on recruitment and retention of Career and Volunteer Fire/EMS, and with our police department.
There are things to celebrate in the Capital Improvements Program, including the Damascus High School major renovation, Shady Grove West Library, Bowie Mill Bikeway, and Parks investments including Johnson’s Local Park.
I want to take a moment to thank my team — Aaron, Sarah, Caroline, Doug and Piper. As well as our entire central staff. Public service is not easy work, particularly during periods of uncertainty and constant change, and I am deeply grateful for your professionalism, compassion, thoughtfulness and unwavering commitment to this community.
Thank you.
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Read the original article at mccouncil