Volume 4, Number 2                           

This Month's Headlines

• Budgets, Frankly
• A Capital Bit of Work
• Annapolis Report: Legislature Addresses Energy, Foreclosure Reform, New Taxes
• Facing Foreclosure? Ask for Help!
• Chairman's Corner: Operating Budget Tops PHED Agenda
• PHED Committee Schedule
• Knapp Hosts Community Meeting to Discuss Parking Issues
• Housing Commission to Open New Customer Service Centers
• The Upcounty Road Scholar
• County Council Public Hearings Calendar
• County Committed to Building Two Methane-to-Energy Facilities
• Vox Pops
• But Wait! There's More!
• Contact Me
• Subscribe to The Open Mike

For a printable version, click here. (requires Adobe Reader)

 A Moment at the Mike

Budgets, Frankly

No four words seem to chill the spine quicker than “We need to talk.” The stuff of broken hearts and two-week groundings, those four words generally connote a level of seriousness and frankness we’re uncomfortable with. But the discussion that follows is almost always necessary, and when it’s over, both parties to it are generally glad they’ve had it.

Councilmember Mike Knapp

Now, having said that . . . we need to talk.

As I write this, the County Council is deep into its consideration of two important budgets, the FY09 Operating Budget, which funds county programs, and the FY09-14 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) budget, which lays out the amounts we’ll spend on infrastructure over the next six years. The proposed operating budget, which includes funding for Montgomery County Public Schools, is about $4.3 billion, while the CIP budget request is approximately $1.8 billion, spread out over six years, or $300 million annually.

That’s a lot of money—your money—the Council is looking at, and there are a lot of things the Council can spend it on. And every year, we’re trying to do more—every day, new requests come in from residents who’d like more money for a specific program or project. The problem is, this year we’ve got less money to do it with.

That’s not to say that the roughly $4.3 billion in the budget request isn’t a lot of money. It is. But given the nation’s current fiscal slump, it’s not as much as we thought we would have. Consequently, we’re not going to be able to fund services in ways we had envisioned earlier. We’ve got to slow down our rate of spending, manage our expectations of government, and determine what our priorities are when it comes to allocating limited resources to what sometimes seems a countless number of programs.

The choices are difficult, but far reaching. Each and every function of government— classrooms and teachers, police officers, literacy programs, parks, affordable housing, art programs—are vying for a smaller pot of money. As much as people get annoyed when I use this example, sometimes it comes down to deciding whether you want to pay for more police officers, or keep a library open an extra day. It’s not a decision I like making either—but decisions are going to have to be made.

And you’ve been helping. We had more than 150 speakers at a public hearing on the budget earlier this month, and it was one of the most useful sessions I think we’ve had at the Council in a long time. You and your neighbors brought to our attention lots of small or lower profile programs that exist below the radar and usually out of the papers. We learned, for example, about drug rehabilitation facilities, and what families go through when they’re waiting for a limited number of beds in those facilities to open up so a loved one can get treatment. We heard about Project Lifesaver, a program through the police department, that gives individuals with disabilities a locating device.

If residents demand services at levels that exceed our current expenditures, then responsible budgeting means making it clear how government goes about raising the revenue to pay for those services.

The testimony we heard put a very human face on these programs—programs many had never thought much about before, apart from a line-item in the budget. It reminded me that there is a constituency for everything that we fund – these things make a big difference in their lives. These are the small programs that are also competing for your money—and I think you’d be glad to know those programs are there, helping those who need it most. The point is, your money does a lot for a lot of people, including you.

I’ve been reading the same things in the newspaper that you have. Things cost more than they did last year, and you don’t necessarily have more money to buy them with. When it comes to making ends meet, you’ve got to make some decisions and set priorities. You can’t stop feeding your family, obviously, but maybe you buy more ground beef and less steak. Do you buy a new car or keep the old one? Odds are, you’ll probably keep the old car running for another year.

It’s the same with the county government—things cost more, and we don’t have more money to compensate for increasing costs, so we set priorities and manage expectations. We slow the rate at which we renovate a building, for example. We eat hamburger instead of steak.

Since I came to the Council in 2002, I’ve been a stickler for responsible budgeting—for crafting a budget that is fair, accountable, and stays within our spending limits. At the moment, we’re working to determine whether the budget can stay within the spending affordability guidelines. A responsible budget is one you can afford—and if residents demand services at a level that exceeds our current expenditures, then responsible budgeting also means making it clear how government goes about raising revenue to pay for those services, whether through new fees, taxes, or changes in credit.

It’s also critical that we appreciate what it really means when we invest in a program. The truth is, government isn’t programs or policies, it’s people. It takes people to teach in classrooms, put out fires, drive buses, counsel students, trim trees, pave roads, and clean buildings. Too often, when we hear that much of our county budget goes to employee salaries, there’s a rolling of the eyes, and a groaning that we’re simply investing in Yet Another Government Worker instead of a quality programs. People are our first and best investment, and they’re the engine that make government run—and more often than not, they don’t make all that much money doing it. There has been a lot of discussion about what an ‘appropriate’ cost-of-living increase is for our employees given the current fiscal climate. On the one hand, we have a contract with our employees in which we have committed to them certain salary increases. The contract didn’t include a clause saying "...and if fiscal times are tough, that’s too bad." Perhaps it should  On the other hand, though, is it fair to raise everyone’s taxes to provide our workers with pay increases?  I've been hearing from you on this already, so keep talking.

Just as you do every day, county government has to do its best to live within its budget. I’m trying to ensure it does so as reasonably—indeed, as humanely—as possible.

In short, it’s my intention to make the budget process open, accessible (check out our new budget web page, where I've asked that we place all budget-related documents so you can find them), and affordable—but that’s going to take a lot of work. It won’t make everyone happy—heck, it won’t make me happy. But just as you do every day, county government has to do its best to live within its budget. I’m trying to ensure it does so as reasonably—indeed, as humanely—as possible.

The Council received the County Executive’s Operating Budget on March 17, held public hearings from April 7 though 10, and the committees have been working diligently to determine the best use of funding for programs within their jurisdictions. The full Council will keep working on the operating and CIP budgets until May 22, when we will finally vote on the budget.

At the moment, I can’t tell you what the final budget will look like, whether we’ll stay within the charter limit, or whether your favorite program or project will be funded at a certain level. There is still much work to be done between now and May 22. It won’t be easy, but I think it’ll be worth it to have a budget we can afford.

There. I’m glad we talked. Now keep talking. E-mail me with your comments, and let me know if I can be of any assistance. It’s my pleasure to serve.

Regards,

Michael J. Knapp
Councilmember, District 2

Another Moment at the Mike:

A Capital Bit of Work

One of the most important responsibilities of county government is to ensure its residents have adequate infrastructure – that’s a fancy way of saying we need to build and maintain things like fire and police departments, roads, schools, libraries, parks, and recreation centers. These are things that make our community a safer, healthier, and better place to live—and every two years, the county council reviews its Capital Improvements Program (CIP) Budget to determine how to spend more than $1 billion dollars over the next six years.

That leads me to another important responsibility of government—indeed, perhaps the most important responsibility—and that is ensuring that government spends your money wisely. And balancing both of these responsibilities—the need to invest in infrastructure and the need to invest wisely—can sometimes be difficult. Buildings age, sidewalks crumble, schools need renovating, libraries need new shelves, and just keeping up with maintenance can get costly. When you add to that the new buildings that need to be built each year, it adds up in a hurry—so fast, in fact, that the annual costs for repairs, upkeep, and building new facilities far exceeds our annual budget.

If you’re a homeowner or renter, you know what I’m talking about. As you start your spring cleaning and begin eying those little things around the house that need repairing, painting, cleaning, or replacing, you know how fast the costs can add up. And if you want to stay within your own household budget, that means setting priorities. Do we repair that squeaky door or replace that aging gutter? Do we need a brand new front door screen, or can we make it last one more year with a little bit of care? Like you, government has to keep an eye on spending—it’s your money, after all—and that means we also have to set priorities in determining what gets built, repaired, renovated, or improved.

Rather than wait until the last day of the budget process to unveil a CIP budget, I presented to the Council -- as early in the process as I could -- my proposed reconciliation of the capital budget.

That’s a long way of saying that our CIP budget is one of the important, and toughest, the County Council has to consider. Our task is made that much more difficult this year by the sagging economic outlook. Given the current situation, the Council will be facing some hard choices regarding what gets funded and what doesn’t.

In years previous, we’ve used the County Executive’s proposed CIP as a starting point, working within his recommendations, then adding council priorities at the end of the process. But that doesn’t really work—too often, we end up with a long list of projects that might be funded if money were to free up, which means they usually weren’t funded. That wasn’t fair to the folks who saw their school or park or library on the list and raised their expectations, only to be told at the end of the fiscal year that there wasn’t enough money for their particular project.

 As Council President, I wanted to do things differently. Rather than wait until the last day of the budget process to unveil a CIP budget, I presented to the Council -- as early in the process as I could -- my proposed reconciliation of the capital budget.  That gave us a reality check of what we could afford to fit into the budget, and what we couldn't.

So what’s in the CIP budget we’re proposing? First, we made a very significant investment in the school system. Many of our elementary schools have serious capacity issues, and we’ve done our best to fund those with the most pressing needs. We also funded modernizations for the high schools, though we had to delay them slightly simply because modernizations are so expensive.

To read Councilmember Knapp's CIP Budget Proposal: CLICK HERE

We listened to you when you said you wanted us to invest in your communities. Therefore, our CIP contains funding for renovations at small recreation centers like Plum Gar and Ross Boddy, and fully funds the new Gaithersburg library. We’re also continuing to make significant investments in our existing transportation infrastructure—we know how important roads are in our county!—as well as in new projects. And we’re doing so in a way that’s sustainable. We’re staying within our affordability guidelines so we ensure that we can continue to make good investments in our county.

More than anything—and I’m saying this again because it’s important—we wanted reality in budgeting. The last thing I wanted was for residents to be led on for several months thinking a particular project was going to be funded, only to have the rug yanked out at the last minute.

Over the next few weeks, the Council will be reviewing minor CIP budget amendments that the County Executive has submitted.  Final passage of the CIP budget will occur concurrently with the operating budget on May 22. I’ve been very interested in the feedback I’ve received so far on this new approach to the CIP budget, and we’ll keep listening as we work.

Take me back to the top.

Annapolis Update

Legislature Addresses Energy, Foreclosure Reform, New Taxes

The Maryland State Assembly adjourned on Monday, April 7. As it worked to address Maryland’s current fiscal woes, the legislature took action to help residents with electricity bills and home foreclosures, even as it approved a $1.4 billion package of tax increases.  And Montgomery County residents are going to feel the pinch.

Faced with an unpopular computer services tax—a tax that state legislators feared would drive small and large businesses out of Maryland into surrounding areas—the legislature repealed the computer services tax—which generated about $200 million—and replaced it with a so-called “millionaires tax.” The new tax establishes a new tax bracket of 6.25 percent on annual incomes of $1 million and higher and, along with other targeted budget reductions, brings in about $100 million annually.

Lawmakers also sent a package of energy conservation bills to the governor for his signature -- a package requiring new or renovated state buildings to meet certain standards of energy-efficiency, boosting to 20 percent the portion of state energy derived from renewable sources, and new funds to decrease energy demand and increase energy supply.

To address the increasing foreclosures in the state, the legislature approved a foreclosure reform bill, making mortgage fraud a crime, extending the foreclosure timetable from 15 days to 150. (See the box below for more information on help with foreclosures.)

Click here for The 90 Day Report: A Review of the 2008 Legislative Session.

Take me back to the top.

And while we're on the subject... Facing Foreclosure? Ask For Help! More than half of those facing foreclosure never ask for help.  I know it can be embarrassing, but don't be afraid to ask for assistance.  Most foreclosures take three to six months, and the State Assembly has passed legislation requiring that the foreclosure timetable be lengthened from 15 days to 150.  That means you've got some time to perhaps get things sorted out -- provided you ask for help, that is. Home Owners Preserving Equity (HOPE) is a state program that provides access to counseling services and resources for homeowners needing to refinance. Help is also available from the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection at (240) 777-3636. Home Owners Preserving Equity (HOPE) (http://www.mdhope.org/) State Hotline: 1-(877)-462-7555 Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection: (240) 777-3636 National hotline: 888-995-4673

Take me back to the top.

Chairman’s Corner

Operating Budget Tops PHED Committee Agenda

No surprises here -- the PHED committee will spend the rest of the month working on the FY2009 Operating Budget.  Given the breadth of the committee's oversight, we'll be meeting almost daily to ensure we give agencies as much time and attention as we can before making our final recommendations to the full Council.

 The budget for Park and Planning will take several days to discuss, and we'll devote several long sessions to some of the smaller, but equally as critical, agencies, such as the Hearing Examiner, People's Counsel, Board of Appeals, and Urban Districts. I look forward to our discussions -- and I'm interested in your thoughts as well, so keep those e-mails coming.

PHED Committee Schedule

The information is subject to change, so please check the Council's website as dates near for updated information. Unless otherwise indicated, all committee meetings will convene in the 7th Floor hearing room of the Council Office Building.

Knapp Hosts Community Meeting to Discuss Parking Issues

On Monday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m.,  I'll be hosting an Open Mike community forum to discuss the community’s concerns regarding the parking of commercial and recreational vehicles on county roadways. This meeting is open to anyone -- especially those with strong feelings on parking in their neighborboods.

Join me at the Germantown Library, Room A -- I want to hear from you!

WHAT	DATE	TIME	LOCATION
Open Mike Meeting  on Community Parking	Monday, April 28	7:00 p.m.	Germantown Library, Room A 19840 Century Boulevard Germantown, MD  20874

Take me back to the top.

Take me back to the top.

The Upcounty Road Scholar

Observation Drive Extension Advances; Work on MD109 Under Way

Got a road that needs repairing? A traffic light that's out? Is there a street or intersection that you think needs a stop sign or crosswalk? One of my responsibilities is to make sure someone knows about it -- and to do what I can to get you information on your question or request as quickly as possible.

I stay in regular contact with the Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) and the Maryland State Highways Administration(MSHA), and provide each agency with a list of projects that need addressing in the Upcounty. Both agencies receive countless requests each week, and getting a response back can take some time. So bear with me -- if you don't see a particular project listed here, that doesn't mean it has been forgotten or neglected, but rather that I haven't received an updated report on its progress this month.

With this in mind, the Road Scholar section of The Open Mike provides an opportunity to give you the latest information received from DPWT, MSHA, and others on the progress of requests that have been submitted on your behalf. It's also an opportunity for you to let me know of other projects that may need to be undertaken in your community.

Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation Projects

Observation Drive Update:  DPWT will be completing Phase I of the Facility Planning Study for the extension of Observation Drive, linking Observation Drive to Stringtown Road in Germantown.  In November 2007, DPWT held a public workshop to present the alternatives that met the purpose and need of the study and to solicit public input.  Based on public comments and other factors, DPWT presented a new alignment in March 2008, Alternative 4, as the preferred alignment.  This recommendation will be further reviewed by the Council and other lawmakers. (Click here to see a map of Alternative 4.)

For more information on the extenstion of Observation Drive, click here.  The next steps in the study are (1) preparation of a project prospectus; (2) presentation of the prospectus to the Planning Board for approval, and, pending approval, (3) advancement to the engineering stage.

Public input is sought and encouraged on this project.  For regular updates, you may want to add your name to the Observation Drive Extended study project mailing list. To do so, please contact Marsha Wheeler-Christ at (240) 777-6174. 

Maryland State Highway Administration Projects

Safety and Resurfacing Project along MD 109: Work began in late March on the resurfacing of MD 109 (Beallsville/Old Hundred Road) between MD 28 (Darnestown Road) and the bridge over Little Monocacy River.  The $2.5 million project will include culvert pipe replacement and cleaning, traffic barrier removal and disposal, curb and gutter installation, grinding and patching of the existing roadway, resurfacing the existing roadway, and new pavement markings.  The project is expected to be completed by autumn, weather permitting.

Variable message signs, arrow panels, drums and concrete barriers will guide motorists through the work zone. During construction motorists can expect daytime lane closures and possible lane shifts along MD 109 on weekdays between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., and between 7:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. 

Take me back to the top.

County Council Public Hearings Calendar 

Supplemental Appropriations, Personnel Bills Top Hearing Agenda

Don't be shy! The County Council regularly holds public hearings at which we actively seek your input, thoughts, comments, and suggestions. The policies, amendments, and legislation under consideration aren't just pieces of paper; they have a very real impact on you and the lives of your fellow citizens. For this reason, residents are always encouraged to attend the public hearings and give us your views.

Hearings are held in the Council's main meeting room on the 7th Floor of the County Office Building at 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville. (Click here for a map.)  If you wish to testify on any of the items listed below, please call (240) 777-7931.

One more thing -- the hearing schedule can change rapidly, so always check the County Council's home page to get the most up-to-date information.