For Immediate Release: Friday, April 21, 2017
Montgomery Council committee
to discuss MCPS FY18 budget request
Also on Friday, April 21: Public Election Fund, WSSC
ROCKVILLE, Md., April 20, 2017—The Montgomery County Council’s Education Committee at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 21, will review the Fiscal Year 2018 operating budget request of Montgomery County Public Schools. The worksession is part of the Council’s review of County Executive Ike Leggett’s recommended budget.
The Council and its committees will review the recommended budget over the next five weeks as they work toward adopting a budget for the new fiscal year. The Council is scheduled to reach tentative agreement on the budget on May 18 and to formally adopt the budget on May 25. The new budget will go into effect on July 1.
The Education Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Craig Rice and includes Councilmembers Marc Elrich and Nancy Navarro, will meet in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville. The meeting 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 session also will be available live via streaming through the Council web site at http://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 .
The Board of Education requested a total of $2.52 billion for the FY18 Montgomery County Public Schools operating budget. This amount represents an increase of $64.24 million (2.6 percent) compared to the FY 17 approved budget. The FY18 tax supported budget request is $2.37 billion, an increase of $62.6 million (2.7 percent) over the FY17 amount.
The County Executive recommended a total of $2.51 billion for the MCPS FY18 operating budget, an increase of $57.1 million (2.3 percent). This recommendation represents a decrease of $7.1 million from the board's request.
The board requested a local contribution that is $25.7 million above the State Maintenance of Effort (MOE) level required for FY 18. The required MOE contribution for FYI8 is $1.64 billion, an increase of $28.1 million over the FYI7 approved total County contribution due to enrollment increases. The board requested a local contribution of $1.67 billion.
The board's request includes an additional 103.8 full-time employees over the approved FYI7 level, for a total of 22,284.3 full-time employees in FYI8. The increase is primarily in teacher positions (91.2 FTE).
The board projects a total enrollment of 161,302 for FY18. This is an increase of 2,292 over the actual FYI7 enrollment. Enrollment of students with Limited English Proficiency is projected to increase by 500, for a total of 23,150 students for FYI8. The FY 18 budget request includes an additional 29.9 positions and $1.9 million to serve the increased number of students.
Enrollment of students eligible for Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS) continues to rise, with a total of 58,852 students as of April 1.
At 9:30 a.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room, the Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Navarro and includes Councilmember Sidney Katz and Hans Riemer, will review the budget needs of the Public Election Fund that will provide public financing for requesting candidates for County Council and County Executive. The next election is in 2018.
The County Executive recommended appropriating $4.10 million for the Public Election Fund for FYI8. Added to the amount the already reserved in the fund, the fund will have a total of $10 million. The Committee to Recommend Funding for the Public Election Fund's majority recommended a total funding level of $11 million for the 2018 election.
At 9:30 a.m. in the Seventh Floor Hearing Room, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, which is chaired by Councilmember Roger Berliner and includes Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Tom Hucker, will review the budget of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC). The WSSC has requested maintaining System Development Charge (SDC) rates for FY18 at current approved levels, but to increase the maximum chargeable rate (the rate the charge could be increased in the future) by a CPI adjustment as allowed for under State law. Final action on the charge will occur via action on a resolution in mid-May.
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Release ID: 17-136