Press Releases

Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee and Transportation and Environment Committee hold virtual meetings on Feb. 1

For Immediate Release: Friday, January 29, 2021

The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy Committee will meet virtually at 9:30 a.m. and the Transportation and Environment Committee will meet virtually at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 1. Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for committee review can be viewed at: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.
The committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. The current committee agendas can be viewed at:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/ondemand/index.html.

On the guidance of Health Officer and Chief of Public Health Services Dr. Travis Gayles, there is currently no public access to the Council Office Building. The virtual Council meeting will be streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube (MoCoCouncilMD) and on Facebook Live (MontgomeryCountyMdCouncil) and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on channels 30 (Fios), 1056 (RCN) and 996 (Xfinity).

Meeting: Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee
Time: 9:30 a.m.
GO Committee: Councilmembers Nancy Navarro (Chair), Andrew Friedson and Sidney Katz
Topics:

Spending Affordability Guidelines for the FY22 Operating Budget
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee will meet to review the spending affordability guidelines for the County’s Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Operating Budget. The Council introduced the proposed resolution setting the spending affordability guidelines for the FY22 Operating Budget on Jan. 12 and held a public hearing on the proposed guidelines on Jan. 26, during which no testimony was received. The deadline for the Council to adopt these guidelines is the second Tuesday of February each year, so the deadline this year is Feb. 9.

The recommended ceiling on the aggregate operating budget is $5,085,500,000, which also is a zero percent growth rate from the FY21 approved aggregate operating budget. This recommendation would meet the Council's fiscal policy goals for PAYGO and reserves and fund OPEB at the FY22 estimated actuarial contribution. It also funds Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery College at the required maintenance of effort level and allots remaining resources to County government operations and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission based on each agency's FY21 portion of the budget.

Chris Mullin, Office of Management and Budget and David Platt, Department of Finance, are expected to participate in this meeting.

The Council staff report can be viewed here.

The role of private industry and the non-profit community in providing internet access to County residents
The GO Committee also will review the role of private industry and the nonprofit community in providing internet access to County residents. The committee requested a review of internet access in the home during the pandemic because children, parents, workers and older residents must rely on the internet to get information and for activities such as virtual learning and telemedicine. On November 18, 2020, the committee heard from governmental agencies in terms of their plans and expectations. At this meeting, the committee requested to hear from nonprofit organizations, as well as from internet service providers Comcast, Verizon and RCN.

The Council staff report can be viewed here.

Meeting: Transportation and Environment (T&E) Committee
Time: 2:30 p.m.
T&E Committee: Council President Tom Hucker (Chair) and Councilmembers Evan Glass and Hans Riemer
Topic:

Proposed Amendments to the Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan: Six Category Change Requests
The T&E Committee will review proposed amendments to the Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan. On Dec. 4, 2020, the Council received a package of six water and sewer category change requests from the County Executive. The requests and recommendations are summarized on page one of the Council staff report and on circle pages 15 and 16. The Planning Board’s review of these category changes occurred on Jan. 7, 2021.

The Council held a public hearing on Jan. 12. Public hearing testimony and correspondence was received from several of the applicants as well as from the West Montgomery County Citizens Association and can be found on circle pages 62 through 93 of the Council staff report. Steve Shofar and Alan Soukup of the Department of Environmental Protection and Katherine Nelson of the Planning Department are expected to participate in the meeting.

The Council staff report can be viewed here.

 

Release ID: 21-034
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926, Juan Jovel 240-777-7931