FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Office of Legislative Oversight and Independent Audit NDA Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for OLO and the Independent Audit NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for OLO is $2.2 million, which is an increase of 0.7 percent from the FY22 approved budget. The recommended FY23 budget for the Independent Audit NDA is $427,882, which is an increase of 0.3 percent from the FY22 approved budget. The changes reflect the shift of $33,120 and 0.18 FTEs from the Independent Audit NDA to OLO. In addition, a net decrease of $16,738 for OLO’s budget is a result of the retirement adjustment and annulation of FY22 personnel costs, partially offset by an increase in consulting services. For the Independent Audit NDA, a net increase of $33,947 is primarily due to an increase in consulting services. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Charter Review Commission NDA Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Charter Review Commission NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for this NDA is $150, which is a decrease of $1,000 from the FY22 approved budget. The Montgomery County Charter requires the Charter Review Commission to report to the County Council on May 1 of every even numbered year. Expenses for the Commission vary from year to year, with higher expenses in years in which a report is required. The next report is due in May 2024. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Council Office Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Montgomery County Council Office. The recommended FY23 budget is more than $2.42 million, which is an increase of 18.3% percent from the FY22 approved budget. The budget includes adjustments to the approved FY22 budget that are almost exclusively due to the addition of two new Councilmembers and the related costs. The budget includes 12 new full-time equivalents (FTEs) to account for the two new Councilmembers and their staff and nine additional central staff members. This includes seven new central staff members described below who will provide the necessary capacity for the additional Councilmembers and their staff, the full year costs of positions created in FY22 and adjustments from part-time to full time. In addition, the Council will be starting a new Fellows Program to bring students graduating with a master’s degree in public policy or a related field to the Council for a one-year fellowship. This program continues our efforts to provide enhanced capacity for central staff to track new programs and policies developed by other progressive local governments and additional research capacity for new Council initiatives. In addition, the fellowship aims to continually bring new staff members shortly out of school to the Council who can introduce new ideas and approaches to tackling challenging policy issues and attract talented students to the Council for fulltime employement. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Legislative Branch Communications NDA Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Legislative Branch Communications NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for this NDA is more than $2.1 million, which is an increase of 49.2% percent from the FY22 approved budget. Increases are due to compensation and the full year costs of positions added in FY22. In addition, the FY23 budget allocates $250,000 for a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, three new positions and one new position created in FY22. The CRM system serves both the County Council and the County Executive and enables them to organize incoming correspondence and track responses. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Inauguration and Transition NDA Review: The GO Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Inauguration and Transition NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for this NDA is more than $50,000, which is the same amount approved for the FY19 budget. In FY19, actual expenditures were approximately $48,000 with $18,000 used for expenses associated with the inauguration ceremonies and $30,000 for County Executive transition costs. FY23 Compensation and Benefits – Follow-up Review: The GO Committee met on April 21 to review and discuss compensation and benefit issues, followed by full Council action on April 26. There are three remaining issues for the Committee to review, two of which were identified at the April 21 meeting and one that was identified as part of the Executive’s April 28 proposed budget amendments. The three items include FY23 pay adjustments for police leadership service, FY23 non-merit salary schedules and Juneteenth holiday additional expenditures. The recommended FY23 budget for compensation and benefits is a combined $3.8 billion for employee compensation, a 6.3 percent increase from the FY22 approved budget. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Montgomery County Green Bank NDA Review: The joint GO and T&E Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Montgomery County Green Bank NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for this NDA is more than 18.6 million. This NDA was created in FY23 after the Council adopted Bill 44-21, which created an annual funding mechanism for the Montgomery County Green Bank. The bank is the organization designated by the Council as the County’s Green Bank to leverage public and private investments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the County. FY23-28 Capital Improvements Program (CIP): State-Funded White Flint Redevelopment Infrastructure and White Flint Metro Station Access Improvements projects Review: The joint PHED and T&E Committee will meet at 1 p.m. to review the FY23-28 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for the White Flint Redevelopment Infrastructure and White Flint Metro Station Access Improvements projects. The White Flint Redevelopment Infrastructure Project funds improvements on a WMATA-owned parcel of land in White Flint. The project would construct the extension of Chapman Avenue to form the western edge, as well as a block of planned McGrath Boulevard on the south side. The state provided $16 million for this project, which includes $10,000,000 from the governor’s supplemental FY23 operating budget and $6 million pre-authorized for FY24 in the state’s capital budget. The White Flint Metro Station Access Improvements Project would modify the four corners of the Rockville Pike and Old Georgetown Road intersection to eliminate “hot” right turns and to reconstruct the sidewalks on each side of Rockville Pike near this intersection to create grass buffers. It will also build a sidewalk along Old Georgetown Road near the intersection and expand the bus bays on the east side of the Metro tracks. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings Review: The PHED Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Office of Zoning and Administrative Hearings. The recommended FY23 budget is more than $705,001, which is an increase of 3.5 percent from the FY22 approved budget. The increases are due to transcription services, software costs and personnel adjustments. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Board of Appeals Review: The PHED Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Board of Appeals. The recommended FY23 budget is $599,809, which is an increase of 3 percent from the FY22 approved budget. The Increase is due to updated personnel costs from the approved FY22 and proposed FY23 compensation agreements, retirement adjustments and print and mail chargebacks. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Permitting Services Review: The PHED Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for DPS. The recommended FY23 budget for the department is more than $41 million, which is an increase of 5.6 percent from the FY22 approved budget. In the FY23 budget, the County Executive recommends adding two new positions, a sustainability program manager and an electrification program manager. DPS is an enterprise fund, which means that the department accounts for all fiscal activity related to the collection and use of building permit fees and other charges related to the development process, rather than being tax-funded. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Conference Center NDA Review: The PHED Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Conference Center NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for this NDA is more than $525,420, which is a decrease of $65,000 or 11 percent from the FY22 approved budget. The County requires a biennial management audit, which increases or decreases the budget by $50,000 every other year. In addition, there is anticipated savings in personnel costs this year for this NDA. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – Conference and Visitors Bureau NDA Review: The PHED Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the Conference and Visitors Bureau NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for this NDA is more than $2.1 million, which is an increase of more than 30 percent from the FY22 approved budget. The majority of this annual appropriation is supported through the Room Rental and Transient Tax, of which Visit Montgomery receives a dedicated 7 percent of the tax to fund its operations. FY23 Recommended Operating Budget – KID Museum NDA Review: The PHED Committee will review the FY23 Operating Budget for the KID Museum NDA. The recommended FY23 budget for this NDA is more than $1.5 million, which is an increase of 31 percent from the FY22 approved budget. KID Museum is a learning space that provides hands-on learning that incorporates STEM, art, and culture with skills like creativity and critical thinking. The Council does not approve a line-item budget for KID Museum, but the County does execute a contract with the organization, which details disbursement conditions and performance expectations, including reporting, for the County’s funding provided to the organization. The FY22 approved budget includes about $6.2 million in revenues, including the $1.2 million through this NDA. |