WASHINGTON — The recession might be over but it’s another painful budget challenge for Montgomery County. For the next three weeks the county council will work on the fiscal year 2016 budget that must be passed by May 21.
And news Monday night from Annapolis, Maryland is not making that job any easier. The General Assembly ended its session without fully funding Montgomery County Public Schools.
Without full state funding, that means the schools are facing a budget gap of $54 million for 2016.
“We understand the needs in the public school system are very real. It is important to keep in mind that out of a $2.5 billion budget, a $37 million gap is just slightly more than a tenth of 1 percent of the entire school system budget. So wherever we end up, we’re very, very close,” says County Council President George Leventhal.
Leventhal says in County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett’s proposed budget, that the council received on March 16, Leggett recommended $37 million less than for what the school system asked.
Leventhal says the largest part of the county’s budget is for the schools, which represents more than half of the budget.
“All council members are committed to doing the best we can for our education system, which is our No. 1 important purpose here in local government,” he says.
There are opportunities for the public to weigh in on the budget at five public hearings this week at the Council Office Building. The first one is being held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14. Two others will be held at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday, and two more at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday.
“We will hear from at least a couple hundred members of the public, and we’re eager to hear from them. Our witness lists for all the five public hearings are full. We are delighted to have really strong participation from community members at these public hearings. The budget is a statement of our policy priorities, and we determine them by listening and we will do a lot of listening this week,” Leventhal says.
