MARYLAND, April 21 - For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 21, 2022

Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee and Joint Education and Culture and Health and Human Services Committees will discuss the FY23 Operating Budget 

The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee will meet on Friday, April 22, at 9:30 a.m. to review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Community Engagement Cluster, Public Information Office, MC311 and the Office of the County Executive. The committee will also review property tax options including rates and amounts and Montgomery County’s Income Tax Offset Credit. The committee will close out its meeting with a discussion of income tax revenue estimates. 

The members of the GO Committee include Chair Nancy Navarro and Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Sidney Katz. 

The joint Education and Culture (E&C) and Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to review the FY23 Operating Budget for school-based mental health and support services in partnerships and school wellness centers. The joint committee will also review the budget for services for newcomers and school mental health services operated by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).

The members of the E&C Committee include Chair Craig Rice and Councilmembers Will Jawando (Lead for Libraries) and Nancy Navarro. 

The members of the HHS Committee include Chair and Council President Gabe Albornoz, Council Vice President Evan Glass (Lead for Homelessness & Vulnerable Communities) and Councilmember Craig Rice.

More detail on each agenda item is provided below. 

FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Community Engagement Cluster  

Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for Community Engagement Cluster (CEC). The recommended FY23 budget for the CEC is more than $7.48 million, which is an increase of 23.9 percent from the FY22 approved budget of more than $6 million.  

The CEC operates as a combination of the County’s five Regional Services Centers, the Commission for Women and the Office of Community Partnerships, which includes the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center and the Montgomery County Volunteer Center. The CEC utilizes a shared administrative management model with business services, administrative support and facilities shared among the CEC programs. 

In FY23, investment in the CEC includes the addition of the County’s first centralized organization structure for legal services to residents in the Office of Community Partnerships, which includes a dedicated full-time staff to coordinate legal service providers, manage contract shifts from DHHS to the CEC and execute the County’s Newcomer Legal Services Program serving newly arriving migrant and asylum-seeking children, adolescents and families. The FY23 recommended budget also includes the addition of three Regional Service Center program manager positions.

FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Public Information Office and MC311 

Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Office of Public Information (PIO) and MC311. The recommended FY23 budget for PIO is more than $6.7 million, which is an increase of more than $779,000 or 13.09 percent from the FY22 approved budget. The County Executive recommended investments in each program area in PIO: six contract MC311 positions termed at three years, two Public Information Officer positions in public relations and a position shift to web content and graphic management. 

FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Office of the County Executive 

Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Office of the County Executive. The recommended FY23 budget for the office of the County executive is nearly $7.5 million, which is an increase of $1.7 million or 30.7 percent from the FY22 approved budget of more than $5.7 million. The committee is expected to discuss policy, operations and management expenditures. 

FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Property tax options: amount, rate and income tax offset credit 

Review: The GO Committee will review and make recommendations on the amount of the Income Tax Offset Credit (ITOC) value for FY23 and the weighted average real property tax rate for FY23. Property tax revenues are estimated to be 45.3 percent of the total tax revenues levied in FY23. With the recent Charter amendment, the Council’s approach for considering property tax rates and revenues was simplified starting in FY22. The Council will set the ITOC value and the property tax rates when it approves the budget at the end of May. 

FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Income Tax Revenue Estimates 

Review: The GO Committee will receive a briefing and discuss the County’s FY23 income tax revenue estimates. The Council will approve the income tax revenue estimates in July when it memorializes its decisions about all revenues for the FY23 Operating Budget. 

FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – School-Based Mental Health and Support Services and Partnerships, including High School Wellness Centers, School Health Services, Linkages to Learning, Cluster Projects, Child and Adolescent School and Community-based Services and other Partnerships 

Review: The joint E&C and HHS Committee will review and make recommendations on the FY23 Operating Budget for school-based mental health and support services in partnership with DHHS, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and community-based partners, including the High School Wellness Centers (HSWCs), Linkages to Learning Centers, newcomer services, school health services, cluster project services and other services delivered by community-based providers in partnership with DHHS and MCPS. In preparation for discussion of the FY23 Operating Budget, the chairs of the joint committee requested a comprehensive inventory of mental health supports provided in and through schools by MCPS and DHHS.

The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. The current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review can be viewed at: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.

Council committee meetings are currently being held on Zoom. 

The Council returned to in-person meetings on March 15; residents continue to have the opportunity to testify remotely for public hearings or provide in-person testimony at the Council Office Building in Rockville for many public hearings.

The Council is recommending that residents, who choose to attend in-person Council meetings, get fully vaccinated to protect themselves and others against COVID-19. If this is not possible, virtual participation is encouraged.

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: 22-174 Media Contact: Sonya Healy, 240-777-7926 , Genevieve Kurtz 240-777-7805