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Montgomery County Council Meets on Feb. 3 to Commemorate Black History Month, Receive a Briefing on County’s Winter Storm Response, and Vote on Spending Affordability Guidelines for the Capital Budget and Capital Improvements Program
For Immediate Release: Monday, February 2, 2026
Also on Feb. 3: Joint committee will review a supplemental appropriation for Head Start program nursing services following the Council meeting
The Montgomery County Council will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. and the meeting will begin with two proclamation presentations. The first, presented by the members of the Transportation and Environment (TE) Committee, will recognize Transit Equity Day. The second, presented by Councilmembers Shebra Evans and Laurie-Anne Sayles, will recognize the annual Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Day. At 11:30 a.m., the Council will commemorate Black History Month.
The joint Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education and Culture (EC) Committee will meet at 3:15 p.m. to review a $252,274 supplemental appropriation for the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Head Start program nursing services.
The members of the GO Committee include Chair Kate Stewart and Councilmembers Evans and Sidney Katz. The members of the HHS Committee include Chair Sayles and Councilmembers Andrew Friedson and Dawn Luedtke. The members of the EC Committee include Chair Will Jawando and Councilmembers Evans and Kristin Mink.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Legislative Session
Introduction: Lead sponsors Councilmembers Luedtke, Katz and Kristin Mink will introduce Expedited Bill 6-26, Fire and Rescue Services - Emergency Medical Services Insurance Reimbursement Program - Use of Revenues. Expedited Bill 6-26 would permit the authorized local fire and rescue department representative to receive revenues collected under the Emergency Medical Services Insurance Reimbursement Program under certain circumstances and specify certain permitted uses of the revenues.
Effective Jan. 1, 2013, Bill 17-12E and Bill 7-13 authorized the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) to seek reimbursement for ambulance transports from private health insurance companies, Medicare or Medicaid. Under the law, Montgomery County residents are not required to pay any out-of-pocket expenses (co-payment, deductible, or uninsured portion of the cost of each emergency medical services transport) relating to emergency medical transport services provided by MCFRS. The revenue generated from the program through the reimbursements from health insurance programs is used to provide equipment, enhancement and training for MCFRS and volunteer local fire and rescue departments without additional cost and increased taxes on County residents.
The purpose of Bill 6-26 is to explicitly permit the distribution of these funds to the local fire and rescue department representative. The need for the bill was identified following a report from the Office of the Inspector General that indicated distribution of funds directly to the representative was inconsistent with the provisions of Montgomery County Code as written.
Council President Natali Fani-González is a cosponsor of Expedited Bill 6-26. A public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 24.
Review and vote expected: The Council is expected to review and vote on a resolution to approve the County’s Spending Affordability Guidelines for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027-2032 Capital Budget and Capital Improvements Program (CIP). These guidelines limit certain types of debt that may be programmed for expenditures in the CIP and set the Council’s voting thresholds for the capital budget each year. The guidelines may be amended by the first Tuesday in February of each year to reflect a significant change in conditions. According to the County Code, any February revision should “reflect a significant change in conditions” regarding affordability and not take need into account. After Feb. 3, the Council can adopt an aggregate capital budget that has expenditures that exceed the guidelines, but only with eight or more affirmative votes.
The County Executive’s recommended CIP was released on Jan. 15, 2026. The recommendation assumes a significant increase in G.O. bond issuances beginning at $340 million in FY27 and up to $390 million by FY32, which represents more than $2.19 billion over the six-year period. In addition, Park and Planning bonds are assumed at the Council approved level of $9 million per year, which represents $54 million over the six-year period.
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee reviewed the Spending Affordability Guidelines at a meeting held on Jan. 22. The committee unanimously recommended that the Council retain the Council-adopted guidelines from Oct. 7, 2025, because economic conditions have not changed to warrant a change in the adopted guidelines at this time.
Consent Calendar
Each item on the Council’s Consent Calendar can be found on the Council agenda for Tuesday, Feb. 3, which is available on the Council website.
Proposed Closed Session
The Council intends to vote to meet in a proposed closed session to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of an appointee, employee, or official over whom it has jurisdiction under Section 3-305(b)(1) of the General Provisions Article of the Maryland Code. The topic is the interview of applicant(s) for a position at the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings over whom the Council has jurisdiction.
Public Hearing and District Council Session
Unless otherwise noted, the Council will hold the following hybrid public hearings at 1:30 p.m. Residents can visit the Council website to learn about the multiple ways to provide testimony.
Public hearing and vote expected: The Council is expected to hold a public hearing and vote on a resolution to approve additions to the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings’ (OZAH) comprehensive fee schedule. The resolution would provide an amendment to OZAH’s fee schedule to implement ZTA 24-01, Household Living - Civic and Institutional Uses. The Council adopted ZTA 24-01 in April 2024, which allowed multi-unit living and townhouse living on properties with a religious assembly or educational institution (private) use. The proposed resolution would establish a fee for this use for allowing the processing of these applications.
The lead sponsor is the Council President, at the request of the Hearing Examiner.
Winter Storm and Snow Operations Briefing
Briefing: The Council will receive an update and have a discussion with representatives from the Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS), Department of Transportation (MCDOT), Department of General Services (DGS) and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) on the recent winter storm and the status of snow and ice clean-up and removal operations. Council President Natali Fani-González added this briefing to the Council’s agenda to provide a comprehensive review of the County’s storm response, outline the expected timeframe for completing cleanup operations, address unexpected challenges and discuss lessons learned that will shape future snow operations to improve efficiency, communication and community trust.
Joint Committee Meeting
Review: The joint GO, HHS and EC Committee will review a $252,274 supplemental appropriation for DHHS and Head Start program nursing services. The County’s local Early Childhood Services office within DHHS serves as a primary Head Start grant recipient and delegates funding to MCPS for the provision of Head Start programming. The supplemental appropriation is needed due to a budget shortfall. The funding will be used to maintain operating expenses for five contractual nurses to continue providing health services in alignment with Head Start program performance standards and early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment requirements.
The federal Head Start program provides funding to local grantees to support early care and education and wraparound services for children from birth to age five at no cost for eligible families. Participation in Head Start is determined by income eligibility based on the federal Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines. In Montgomery County, families at up to 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines are income-eligible for subsidized prekindergarten.
The Council meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website.
Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream.
Release ID: 26-040
Media Contact: Sonya Healy 240-777-7926, Benjamin Sky Brandt 240-777-7884