For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Residents can also submit comments through new Council online public hearing catalog
ROCKVILLE, Md., April 8, 2020—The Montgomery County Council will hold two public hearings on Thursday, April 16 at 1:30 and 7 p.m. on Montgomery County’s Fiscal Year 2021 Operating Budget. Residents are being asked to provide live testimony remotely through telephone calls at the public hearings. Residents can sign up to testify live via telephone by calling 240-777-7803 by 3 p.m. on April 14. Individuals will receive a confirmation call or email with the appropriate call in number to participate in the remote meetings.
The Council also has created a new online catalog for public hearings where residents can provide either written or prerecorded audio or video testimony for Councilmembers to consider throughout their deliberations. While this testimony will not be aired during the Council’s public hearing, all of the comments provided will be reviewed by Councilmembers and will be available to the public on the Council’s web page. Community members can find the form to upload their comments at https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSignUp.html.
Residents who have already signed up to testify on the operating budget on another date will be contacted to determine if they would like to testify live on April 16 or submit prerecorded or written testimony for the Council to consider during their budget deliberations.
The Fiscal Year 2021 Recommended Operating Budget totals $5.9 billion. County Executive Marc Elrich presented his recommended operating budget to the Council on March 16. Over the next two months, the Council will analyze these recommendations and is scheduled to adopt the FY21 County budget in late May. The budget will take effect on July 1.
Residents can view the public hearings on County Cable Montgomery on Channels 996 or 6 on Xfinity, Channels 1056 or 6 on RCN and Channel 30 on Verizon. The hearings also will be available via streaming on the Council’s web site athttp://tinyurl.com/z9982v8 and on the Council’s Facebook page.
For residents who are not English dominant, special arrangements for interpretation services can be made for those testifying. Arrangements must be made by April 13 at noon by emailing Juan Jovel at Juan.Jovel@montgomerycountymd.gov.
Finally comments and suggestions are welcome online at http://tinyurl.com/zrbwh5v; via email at county.council@montgomerycountymd.gov; by sending regular mail to County Council, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850; or by calling the Council’s budget hotline at 240-777-7802. Residents can also provide comments on the operating budget via social media using #BudgetVoices2021.
Information on the County's operating budget can be found at https://apps.montgomerycountymd.gov/BASISOPERATING/Common/Index.aspx
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Release ID: 20-140