Montgomery County Council and Committee Meetings on Feb. 6, 2025
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee will review spending affordability guidelines for the FY26 Operating Budget; Council public hearings at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the FY26 Capital Budget, Supplemental Appropriations to the FY25 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee will meet on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 9:30 a.m. to review Spending Affordability Guidelines (SAG) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Operating Budget. The meeting will be held in the seventh-floor Council Hearing Room.
The members of the GO Committee include Chair and Council President Kate Stewart and Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Sidney Katz.
The Council will hold public hearings at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on the FY26 Capital Budget, Supplemental Appropriations to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 Capital Improvements Program (CIP).
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Review: The GO Committee will review the spending affordability guidelines for the FY26 Operating Budget. The committee is expected to consider the proposed options and make a recommendation to the full Council. The deadline for the Council to adopt these guidelines is the second Tuesday of February each year. The deadline this year is Feb. 11, 2025.
The Montgomery County Code requires the Council to specify the following when adopting the spending affordability guidelines for the operating budget: a ceiling on the funding from ad valorem real property tax revenues; a ceiling on the aggregate operating budget; and separate budget allocations for Montgomery County Government, the Montgomery County Board of Education, Montgomery College, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), debt service and current revenue funding of capital projects. As part of this process the Council will consider the condition of the economy, the level of economic activity in the County, trends in personal income and the impact of economic and population growth and projected revenues.
The December fiscal plan update showed an upward revision of total tax supported revenues across the six-year period. These increases are driven by updated economic data indicating that the economy will avoid the mild recession assumed in the approved fiscal plan. However, potential actions and decisions at the federal level could have negative impacts on Maryland and Montgomery County that diverge from the national economy.
Finance estimates that FY25 revenues will be $132.1 million, or 2.1 percent higher than the approved budget and FY26 revenues will be $127.7 million, or two percent higher than previously projected. For FY25, these increases are largely driven by incomes taxes. For FY26, the increases are driven by both income taxes and property taxes. The fiscal plan currently projects FY25 ending reserves of 13.1 percent, higher than the 10.8 percent assumed in the June Fiscal Plan.
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Public hearing: The Council will hold a public hearing on the FY26 Capital Budget and Supplemental Appropriations to the FY25 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY25-30 CIP. This year represents an off year for the CIP, which follows the previous year’s full review and approval of the FY25 Capital Budget and FY25-30 CIP. In odd-numbered years, including 2025, the Council approves the capital budget but approves only amendments to the approved CIP.
During this off year of the biennial CIP cycle, the Council will review amendments and supplemental appropriation requests for County Government, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Montgomery College, M-NCPPC, Washington Suburban Transit Commission (WSTC), Revenue Authority, Housing Opportunities Commission and municipality and state projects. The Council reviews the full CIP for WSSC Water each year.
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: 25-033
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=46528