Statement from Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich on the County Council’s Preliminary Agreement on the Fiscal Year 2023 Operating Budget

Per MCPD:
For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 19, 2022
“I want to thank the County Council for their hard work, diligence, and input toward amending and approving the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) operating and capital budgets. Today’s preliminary agreement marks the informal end of the budget cycle, and I am pleased the Council has agreed on 99.8 percent of my recommended FY23 budget.

All of us are focused on improving education, expanding affordable housing opportunities, enhancing public safety, combatting climate change, and committed to equity. This proposed and preliminarily approved FY23 budget will also grow our reserves, helps preserve our AAA bond rating, and provides improved compensation for our employees. This budget makes historic investments while not raising taxes on our residents during these volatile economic times.

After two years of operating in crisis mode in response to the pandemic, nearly 15 years since the beginning of the Great Recession, and, for the first time since I have been a County official, our revenues have returned stronger than even predicted. We finally have the revenue we needed to make key investments as well as right sizing many priorities after years of cuts and similar budgets. This is a long way from just three years ago when we inherited a $90 million dollar deficit in our first budget, a same service budget in our second year at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a budget last year that was supplemented by federal funds that allowed us to have another same services budget that limited our ability to address increasing needs.

Because of the investments we have made in our community and the Charter change we championed in 2020, the County’s fiscal picture has drastically improved. The steps we have taken over the last few years has set the stage for this budget and our strong fiscal situation. Our revenue projections are in line with our State government, and therefore we are confident that this funding will be sustainable for the next several years.

I look forward to final passage of the FY23 budget next week and want to acknowledge and thank the talented staff of the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Finance, and all of the hard-working County employees from every office, department, and agency who contributed to this outcome. Through collaboration and partnership, we collectively demonstrate that this government is here to improve the quality of life for all those who live and work in Montgomery County.

A reflection of the conscious of a government is found in what it prioritizes in its budget decisions. It is evident that in Montgomery County we are a community committed to education, sustainability, equity, safety, and opportunities for all.”