At his State of the County speech on Thursday night, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich referred to “tough choices ahead,” including how the Maryland county will find ways to fund everything from education to environmental programs.
As part of his funding strategy, Elrich proposed changing the way he wants to fund the school system. Instead of raising the county’s property tax rate, he explained during a briefing with reporters Wednesday, that he’s proposed boosting the income tax rate in the county.
“The state has changed the law to let counties raise their income tax from 3.2 to 3.3%, and I’m proposing we go that route instead,” Elrich said. “It’s more progressive and allows us to eliminate the property tax increase altogether.”
His original proposal would have raised the property tax by 3.5%.
The Montgomery County school board approved a $3.6 billion operating budget, saying in its letter to Elrich and the county council that it includes “corrective measures” that would help to improve math and literacy rates, support campus safety and achieve other priorities.
In Wednesday’s briefing with reporters, Erlich said his plan to increase the county’s income tax helps “fully fund” the school system’s budget request and avoid cuts to other county priorities.
“Now, to be clear, if the council does not support these revenue changes, then we’ll be forced to make cuts either to the school system or to critical county government services. And that’s not a threat. That’s just math,” he said.
The county executive’s budget is subject to approval by the county council, and Elrich said that he had reached out to Council President Kate Stewart ahead of his decision, describing her reaction by saying, “She didn’t say ‘great,’ and she didn’t say ‘horrible.'”
Stewart told Bethesda Today on Wednesday that Elrich had not provided details about his decision to drop the property tax increase in favor of raising the income tax beyond what was in a letter sent to her on Tuesday.
Council member Andrew Friedson stated in March that he would not support the proposal. He shared on his X account a statement in regard to the proposal.
“With so many families affected by the Trump administration’s attack on federal workers, it is wrong to even consider a proposal that could re-tax workers on income from jobs they no longer have, and as their living costs are going up and their retirement savings are going down,” Friedson wrote.
Erlich has proposed a $7.65 billion operating budget that is subject to approval by the 11-member county council. The council is expected to vote on the final version of the budget next month.
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