Montgomery County Council Meets on May 7

The Montgomery County Council will review the Fiscal Year 2014 operating budget requests of the Department of Libraries and the County Department of Transportation on May 7. The worksessions are part of the Council’s examination of the recommended budget presented by County Executive Isiah Leggett. The Council also is scheduled to tentatively approve more than 50 budgets of various departments and programs that have already been reviewed.

The Council is working toward adopting the FY14 County operating budget in late May. The budget will go into effect on July 1.

The Council’s meeting will being at 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The morning session, three afternoon public hearings scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the afternoon session beginning at 1:45 p.m. 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. The meeting will be rebroadcast starting at 9 p.m. on Friday, May 10.

The Council’s review of the Department of Libraries is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:30 a.m. The County Executive recommended an increase of 10.5 percent in the libraries budget over the FY13 approved budget.

The Council’s Health and Human Services Committee, in its review of the Libraries budget on April 18, recommended approval of the County Executive’s budget adjustments that would add $1.1 million to reopen the Gaithersburg Library in Fall 2013, $884,000 to reopen the Olney Library in Fall 2013 and $30,000 to add a digital media lab at the Long Branch Library. The committee also recommended adjustments to fund increased hours at the Poolesville and Long Branch libraries and for $200,000 to increase the system’s e-book collection.

In late morning, and likely as part of its afternoon session, the Council will review the budget request of the Department of Transportation. The Council’s Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee held three worksessions on the proposed budget.

During the morning session, more than 50 budgets are expected to be approved on the consent agenda.

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