About 225 speakers pleaded for their programs and questioned Montgomery County councilmembers’ priorities during recent budget talks.
Thursday, councilmembers are expected to approve a $7.1 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2025. That budget received unanimous support from councilmembers during a recent straw poll.
But not everyone one is happy with the amount they will receive.
“We are deeply concerned that the Council stripped from the operating budget key climate actions needed to transition our buildings to clean energy and to help low-income communities address the rising costs of severe weather in our region,” wrote 350 Montgomery County, a non-profit working for solutions to the climate crisis.
“We demand full funding of all climate initiatives in next year’s budget.”
Specifically, that group is calling for $345,000 to hire a solar program manager, $275,000 for energy audits, $200,000 for energy ambassadors who would conduct outreach in low-income communities and $200,000 for technical support to expand community EV charging.
While the proposed budget includes 99.2% of the financial requests from the Board of Education, members of the Montgomery County Education Association are concerned about a $30 million reduction.
“It’s dismaying to see that painful cuts to programs and positions will be necessary in the coming year. This budget will force increased class sizes, eliminate critically needed positions, and reduce funding for vital programs like tutoring,” according to an article in MCEA’s newsletter.
MCEA is calling on BOE members to prioritize those needs when working on its budget with the money allocated by the council.
Heather Bruskin, Director of Office of Food Systems Resiliency, is pleased that affordable housing efforts received requested funding, noting, “If they are funding housing, that is going to help hunger.”
However, she was disappointed that her request for a new staff person to work with children and hunger was not included in the budget as well as other asks.
Her office requested $7 million but is on target to receive $3.5 million, she said.
“It’s a time of transition. There are a lot of questions on what is funded in the post pandemic world,” she told MCM, adding that her department will continue to focus on food insecurity. “We will still find ways to partner” with other groups that are fighting hunger, she said.
As Council Vice President Kate Stewart explained, “As difficult a task as it is, at the end of the day, we must balance multiple needs in our county.”
