County Council Public Hearings on Budget

The Montgomery County Council will hold five public hearings spread over April 8, 9 and 10 on Montgomery County’s Fiscal Year 2015 Operating Budget. More than 150 people are expected to express views about specific items, and the general structure, of the budget.

Residents also can offer comments at the public hearings about the FY15-20 County Capital Improvements Program, the FY15 Capital Budget and the WSSC FY15-20 Capital Improvements Program.

The public hearings will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8; at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 9; and at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 10. All hearings will be held in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville.

The hearings will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM—Cable Channel 6 on Comcast and RCN, Channel 30 on Verizon) and also will be available via streaming through the County Web site at www.montgomerycountymd.gov.

County Executive Isiah Leggett presented his recommended budget to the Council on March 17. Over the next seven weeks, the Council and its six committees will analyze the recommendations and will adopt the FY15 budget in late May. The budget adopted by the Council will take effect on July 1.

“In recent years we have addressed the difficult challenges posed by the Great Recession and its aftermath,” said Council President Craig Rice. “Now, as the economy continues to recover slowly, we must carefully balance a wide array of County needs. That is what our Council committees and the full Council will undertake over the next two months.

In addition to speaking at the public hearings, residents can offer comments on the budget via email at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov ; via regular mail to: County Council, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville MD 20850; or by calling the Council’s budget hotline at 240.777.7802. Information on the budget and the work of the Council and its committees on the budget can be found at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/council and by clicking “budget updates.” That site also can be accessed at:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/budget_summary/index.html .