The Montgomery County Council held its “straw vote” on a $7.6 billion spending plan Thursday that includes $3.6 billion for education. The unanimous vote comes a week before the formal and final council vote on May 22.
In a briefing with reporters, Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart said the spending plan for fiscal year 2026 indicates the council’s “unyielding commitment to support education, public safety, social safety net services” and additional funds for “our dedicated employees who are essential to all areas of public service.”
Stewart said the support for the county’s priorities “was accomplished through savings and holding the line on property and income taxes,” referring to the council’s rejection of County Executive Marc Elrich’s plans to first consider an increase to property taxes and then look at increasing the county’s income tax rate.
Instead of boosting taxes to fund the school system’s $3.6 billion budget request, the council opted to pull money from the retiree health benefit trust fund. Stewart indicated that the one-time funding maneuver was initially resisted by the council, but that under current conditions, it was the right move for the moment.
“I feel really confident in the plan that we put together here to make sure that we are funding our schools and continue to be fiscally responsible in the county,” Stewart said in regards to the trust fund money potentially affecting the county’s triple-A bond rating.
Stewart said as the council wrapped up its budget deliberations, it was able to keep 3.2% in reserves.
Education
The school system will get $3.6 billion — an increase of more than $322 million over the last spending plan.
Included in the plan is a boost to base salaries for staff by 3.25%. There is also funding for 688 special education positions, which includes 500 paraeducators who support teachers in the classroom.
The plan also includes funding for 52 new school security staff positions.
Public safety
The county’s police department will be funded with $352 million, an increase of $12 million over last year.
There’s $274,000 for the latest expansion of the department’s Drone as First Responder program in Germantown. There are already drone programs in downtown Silver Spring and Bethesda.
The police budget also includes added security staff at Progress Place, the Silver Spring facility that provides services to the homeless population in Montgomery County.
The most recent “Point in Time survey,” led by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, showed an increase in people experiencing homelessness in the county, from 1,144 in 2024 to 1,510 in 2025.
The county’s Fire and Rescue Service got a 6% increase in funding to $310 million. The State’s Attorney’s Office budget also gets $27 million.
Other public safety budget items include $33 million for the Sheriff’s Department, $11 million for the Office of Animal Services and $3.2 million for the Office of Consumer Protection. The OPC will get two new positions intended to help enforce new legislation on landlord-tenant rights.
The 911 fee telephone subscribers pay will go up from 75 cents to $1.47.
Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services would see an increase of $43 million for a total of $554 million.
Children, Youth and Family Services would get $140 million for programs including protection, prevention, treatment and financial assistance services for children and families.
Nearly $117 million is being budgeted for public health services that include disease prevention programs and partnerships to boost public access to health services.
Other expenditures include $58 million for affordable housing and rental assistance programs, and funding that allows the Department of Transportation to eliminate fares on the county’s Ride-On buses.
A final vote on the budget is set for May 22. Once passed, the budget would go into effect on July 1.
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