Council Committees Meet on April 25

The Montgomery County Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 25, will hold its second worksession on the compensation and benefits proposed for employees of County government and County agencies in the Fiscal Year 2014 operating budget. The review is part of the Council’s examination of the recommended budget presented by County Executive Isiah Leggett.

In April and May, the Council will review the Executive’s recommended budget as it works toward adopting the FY14 County operating budget in late May. The budget will go into effect on July 1.

The GO Committee, which is chaired by Nancy Navarro and includes Councilmembers Valerie Ervin and Hans Riemer, will meet in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon). The broadcast also will be streamed through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

County employees have not received general wage adjustments (COLAs) for four years or service increments (step increases) for three years; were forced to take furloughs of three to eight days in FY11; and have experienced increased cost-sharing for health and retirement benefits starting in FY12.

County Executive Leggett’s FY14 recommended budget includes COLAs and step increases for eligible employees in each of the next two years. Those increases in FY14 would include 6.75 percent per year for eligible County Government employees, 7.35 percent for members of the Fraternal Order of Police and 9.75 percent for County career firefighters.

At 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room, the Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Phil Andrews and includes Councilmembers Roger Berliner and Marc Elrich, will hold a worksession on the budget requests of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, the Department of Liquor Control and the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

At 1:30 p.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Planning, Housing and Economic Development (PHED) Committee, which is chaired by Nancy Floreen and includes Councilmembers Elrich and Leventhal, and the Health and Human Services Committee will meet jointly for worksessons on the budget requests of the Housing First program and the senior transportation initiative.

At 3 p.m. in Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the PHED Committee will examine the budget requests of the Housing Opportunities Commission and the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

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