SS/fiscal.pr             98-295         Contact:  David Weaver, 301-217-6530
                                           Robert Kendal, 301-217-2789
WITH REVENUE PROJECTIONS UP,
DUNCAN CALLS FOR TAX RELIEF        For Immediate Release:  Sept. 25, 1997


     With revenues up for the current and previous fiscal years and projections for
additional increases next year, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan today
urged the County Council to accelerate the enactment of a property tax credit program for
low to middle-income homeowners and to consider additional opportunities for providing tax
relief to County residents and businesses.
     In a memo to the County Council which transmitted his recommendations on Spending
Affordability Guidelines for the County's fiscal year 1999 Operating Budget,  Duncan noted: 
"Estimates updated since the Council's budget approval actions on May 21, 1997, show an
increase in final revenues for FY 97, in current revenues for FY 98, and in projected revenues
for FY 99.  The increases," added the Executive, "come primarily from income tax receipts."
     Revenue estimates indicate that final revenues for FY 97 will come in $20 million
higher than those budgeted for and that FY 98 revenues are projected to be approximately
$34.1 million higher than those expected.  Total revenues for fiscal year 1999 are now
expected to exceed earlier projections by approximately $48.7 million.
     Half of the unexpected income tax revenues for the current and past fiscal years must,
by law, go into the County's revenue stabilization -- or "rainy day" -- fund.  And a portion of
the added revenue, under Duncan's proposal, would be earmarked for appropriations that will
be needed to remedy the year 2000 computer problem.   
     But approximately $5 million of the additional revenue, Duncan said, should be used
to implement the planned Homeowners' Tax Credit program in FY 99, rather than two years
later when it is currently scheduled to go into effect.  In addition, the Executive asked the
Council to work together with him over the next several months to identify other potential
"one-time uses" for the increased revenues, including the possibility of "further tax relief"
efforts next year.
     Duncan cautioned, however, that the "distinction between short and long term
developments is clear" when reviewing projected revenue growth for the next six years. 
Revenues for FY 99 are expected to grow by 10.6 percent, as compared to those presumed in
the FY 98 approved budget, but are projected to grow by only 2.4 percent to 3.3 percent in
the years following.

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