My Thoughts on the Proposed Operating Budget

This morning, the County Executive transmitted his Proposed FY11 Operating Budget to the County Council. Next year's operating budget presents the County’s greatest fiscal challenge in decades. I commend the County Executive and his team for their hard work in developing his budget proposal.

State and local governments across the nation, like the American people, have felt the severe impact of the Great Recession. Although the County’s economy is stronger than in many other jurisdictions, we are not immune. Revenues are down, and demands for services are up. To balance the FY11 budget we must close a $779 million gap between projected expenditures and resources – by far the largest gap in our history. But for the $100 million in spending cuts the Council has made in the current year’s budget – which itself was the leanest in 18 years – the gap would have been that much larger.

The facts are inescapable, and we must now deal with them. All of us must contribute to the solution. The Executive has given us his best judgment on how to proceed. The Council must now determine the right balance among difficult options.

I am committed to fully engaging the community in these hard decisions. The Council welcomes input from all County residents – through our public hearings on April 5-8 (sign up to speak at 240-777-7803), email (at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov), regular mail (at 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850), or our budget hotline (call 240-777-7802). Residents can also follow the Council’s daily work on the budget by going to our Web site (www.montgomerycountymd/council) and clicking on ‘budget update.’ With the community’s help we will make the best decisions we can in this challenging year.