County Council to Hold Budget Public Hearings April 6-8

The Montgomery County Council will hold four public hearings on County Executive Marc Elrich’s proposed fiscal 2022 budget from April 6 through April 8.

Elrich presented his recommended operating budget to the council on March 15. Over the next two months, the council and its six committees will analyze the recommendations and will take action on the budget by June 1. The budget adopted by the council will take effect on July 1.

The public hearings will be held virtually on the following dates and times:

• Tuesday, April 6, at 1:30 p.m. (register by 10 a.m. April 5)
• Tuesday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m. (register by 5 p.m. April 6)
• Wednesday, April 7 at 7 p.m. (register by 5 p.m. April 7)
• Thursday, April 8 at 7 p.m. (register by 5 p.m. April 8)

All hearings will be conducted through Zoom and residents may provide their testimony live by video or telephone.

The hearings will be televised live by County Cable Montgomery (CCM). The channel can be viewed on Cable Channels 996 (high definition) and 6 (standard definition) on Comcast; Channels 1056 (HD) and 6 (SD) on RCN; and Channel 30 on Verizon.  The public hearings also will be available via streaming on the Council’s Facebook (MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil) or YouTube (MoCoCouncilMD) pages or the Council website.

Residents can sign up to testify by clicking the “sign up” button for public hearings on the Council’s calendar.  Individuals will receive a confirmation email with the appropriate video and dial-call in information to participate in the remote meetings. Please call 240-777-7803 for help with the sign up process. The registration deadline for daytime hearings is 5 p.m. on the day before the hearing, and the deadline for evening hearings is 10 a.m. on the day of the hearing.

For residents who speak a primary language other than English, arrangements for interpretation services can be made for testifying by contacting Juan.Jovel@montgomerycountymd.gov or calling 240-381-5207. Arrangements must be made by April 5 at 9 a.m.

Information on the budget can be found at http://tinyurl.com/mp2o2gj.

In addition to speaking at the public hearing, residents can send either written or prerecorded audio or video comments throughout the Council budget deliberations. All of the comments provided will be reviewed by Councilmembers and will be available to the public on the Council’s web page. A form is available for residents to upload their comments. The deadline to submit testimony is midnight two business days before Council action.

Comments and suggestions are welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v; via email at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov; via regular mail to: County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, Md. 20850; or by calling the council budget hotline at 240-777-7802. Residents can also provide comments on the operating budget via social media using #BudgetVoices2022.

About Michelle Queen

View all posts by Michelle Queen