For Immediate Release: Wednesday, July 17, 2024
The Government Operations and Fiscal Policy (GO) Committee will meet on Thursday, July 18 at 1 p.m. to review Bill 6-24, Property Tax Credit - Disabled Veterans, and Bill 10-24, Contracts and Procurement - Local Small Business Reserve Program (LSBRP) - Veteran-Owned Business Preference Points.
The members of the GO Committee include Chair and Vice President Kate Stewart, Council President Andrew Friedson and Councilmember Sidney Katz.
The Planning, Housing and Parks (PHP) Committee will meet at 2:30 p.m. to review Executive Regulation 2-24, Rent Stabilization, and Executive Regulation 16-23 Tenant Displacement - Right of First Refusal (ROFR).
The members of the PHP Committee include Chair and Council President Friedson and Councilmembers Natali Fani-González and Will Jawando.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Bill 6-24, Property Tax Credit - Disabled Veterans
Review: The GO Committee will review Bill 6-24, Property Tax Credit - Disabled Veterans, which would provide a new property tax credit to veterans who are severely disabled. Under Bill 6-24, a property tax credit would be available to an honorably discharged veteran who is at least 50 percent disabled, as certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and whose federal adjusted gross income does not exceed $100,000. The property tax credit granted under the bill would equal 50 percent of the County property tax imposed on the dwelling house if the disabled veteran’s service-connected disability rating is at least 75 percent, but not more than 99 percent; or 25 percent of the County property tax imposed on the dwelling house if the disabled veteran’s service-connected disability rating is at least 50 percent, but not more than 74 percent. The lead sponsor of Bill 6-24 is Councilmember Fani-González. Council President Friedson is a cosponsor of Bill 6-24.
Review: The GO Committee will review Bill 10-24, Contracts and Procurement - Local Small Business Reserve Program (LSBRP) - Veteran-Owned Business Preference Points, which would implement veteran-owned business preference points under the Local Small Business Reserve Program and outlines the eligibility criteria.
Bill 10-24 would enable veteran-owned local small businesses to gain access to more County procurement opportunities by awarding preference points of five percent to certified, veteran-owned local small businesses that submit a proposal in response to a County request for proposal (RFP). A small business must have a valid veteran-owned small business (VOSB) or service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSB) certificate from the U.S. Small Business Administration or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to be eligible for the preference points. The lead sponsor is the Council president, at the request of the County Executive.
Executive Regulation 2-24, Rent Stabilization
Review: The PHP Committee will review Executive Regulation 2-24, which is being promulgated by the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) under Method 2 of Section 2A-15 of the Montgomery County Code. The Council received the executive regulations and public comments from the Office of the County Executive on June 19.
The regulation would implement the requirements under Montgomery County Code Sections 29-58 – 29-62, also known as the Rent Stabilization Law. The regulations would implement the limitation of rent increases for new leases, lease renewals and previously vacant units; outline the regulatory process for allowable exemptions for capital improvements, fair return, and substantial renovation; and provide a guideline for rental fees.
Bill 15-23, Landlord-Tenant Relations- Rent Stabilization, was enacted by the Council on July 18, 2023. The proposed regulations must be reviewed and approved by the Council before the law is enforced. Once the regulations are approved, the allowable rent increase will be CPI-U (inflation) plus three percent, capped at six percent. The PHP Committee will hold a second work session on July 25.
Executive Regulation 16-23 Tenant Displacement - Right of First Refusal (ROFR)
Review: The PHP Committee will review Executive Regulation 16-23, Tenant Displacement - Right of First Refusal (ROFR), which addresses the requirements to become a qualified affordable housing developer entity under ROFR. On Feb. 26, 2024, the County Executive signed Expedited Bill 38-23 allowing the County to assign its ROFR to qualified affordable housing developers. The Council must review and approve the regulations to establish the new ROFR assignment process.
Montgomery County enacted its ROFR law in 1980 to preserve affordable housing and to prevent tenant displacement. The County, the Housing Opportunities Commission, or any certified tenant organization (in that order) must be offered the opportunity to buy any multifamily rental housing development of four or more units before the owner sells to another party. The ROFR Program is administered by DHCA.
The Committee 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: 24-269