For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 26, 2016
Councilmember George Leventhal Praises
Increased Transparency and Accountability
for Event Sponsorships
Montgomery Council’s FY17 budget resolution includes language
requiring Council review of County event sponsorships
ROCKVILLE, Md., May 26, 2016—Questions by Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal during the Council’s review of the County’s Fiscal Year 2017 operating budget about special events sponsored by the County have resulted in the Council’s instituting a heightened review of these types of activities. Councilmember Leventhal, who chairs the Council’s Health and Human Services Committee, sought accountability and transparency from the Executive Branch related to a $200,000 funding request for the Arts and Humanities Council. A review of budget items in other departments from 2015 and 2016 indicates that County funding also was provided for other special events without review or approval from the Council.
The County Government provides matching grants to awardees of the Executive Ball for the Arts and for the Arts and Humanities Council’s Power2Give program. The Arts Ball is affiliated with the Montgomery County Community Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization. The County is a sponsor of the Ball for the Arts and also provides other in-kind contributions. The web site for the Montgomery County Executive’s Ball states that “funds raised will go to support arts education programs in Montgomery County.”
Starting in late March, Councilmember Leventhal repeatedly requested four years of revenues and expenditures for the Ball for the Arts. The information was ultimately provided on May 13.
“I take my job as a steward of the taxpayer’s dollar very seriously, and every dollar counts,” said Councilmember Leventhal. “Any organization that comes before the Council to request funding from the County should have its books open for review and be ready to provide accurate, clear and timely data about how these funds will be spent. The Council requires all nonprofit organizations applying for community grants to provide financial information.”
In addition to funding issues raised about the Ball for the Arts, Councilmember Leventhal requested financial statements detailing revenues and expenses for the Montgomery County Executive Hispanic Gala, the World of Montgomery Festival and the Montgomery Sister Cities program. To date there has been no response. [NOTE: His May 9 memorandum to County Chief Administrative Officer Timothy Firestine is attached.]
“When Councilmembers appropriate funds to departments, we expect that these resources will be used for clearly identified purposes,” said Councilmember Leventhal. “The expenditures in question may have been made for worthy endeavors, but without information, we cannot make that determination. The new language in the Council’s budget resolution will not prohibit the County from sponsoring special events. It is intended to tighten up the Council’s oversight of these types of expenses so we can determine if it is money well spent.”
The new language in the Council’s FY17 Operating Budget Resolution is as follows:
“No funds appropriated in this resolution may be spent on a sponsorship of $10,000 or more. Expenditures on a sponsorship must not be divided into amounts less than $10,000 or funded by multiple departments or offices in order to avoid this requirement. The Chief Administrative Officer must also transmit to the Council quarterly reports within 15 days of the end of each fiscal quarter listing all expenditures on sponsorships.”
This new provision means that the County Executive must send the Council a special or supplemental appropriation request for any event sponsorship of $10,000 or more. In addition, the Chief Administrative Officer must report event sponsorships of less than $10,000 to the Council on a quarterly basis.
Leventhal's May 9 memo on sponsorships