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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Montgomery County Council Meeting Summary - May 12, 2026

County Council & Committees — Tuesday, May 12, 2026

BodyMontgomery County, Maryland

SessionCounty Council & Committees

DateTuesday, May 12, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 3:28:12

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:01

Good morning, everyone.

0:03

My name is Natalie Fanny Gonzalez and the Montgomery County Council President.

0:07

Today is May 12th, and it's so beautiful outside.

0:10

I had to say that.

0:12

We're going to start the day with an amazing proclamation recognizing our public safety officers.

0:19

It's Police Safety Appreciation Week, and this proclamation is led by the Montgomery County Council Public Safety Committee.

0:25

If you're here for that proclamation, please come forward.

1:24

Well, good morning all, and thank you for joining us.

1:27

It's moments like this.

1:28

You wonder if there's an emergency in Montgomery County, who's going to handle it for us, because we have a feeling that they would handle it, believe me.

1:37

We would we would be getting out of their way.

1:39

This is on behalf of the Public Safety Committee.

1:42

We are honored to recognize Public Safety Appreciation Week.

1:47

This well-deserved proclamation allows us to pause to pay tribute and to thank our public safety professionals from various organizations.

1:57

These hardworking individuals dedicate their careers to public safety and make incredible personal sacrifices to keep our friends, neighbors, and community safe.

2:10

A safe community is important as it allows our residents to live, work, worship, play, and thrive in our everyday lives.

2:20

It is of utmost importance to provide our public safety departments with the resources and tools that they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.

2:31

This year, our county launched the public safety joint operations center created by the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

2:41

The center is in the county's public safety headquarters in Gaithersburg, which just happens to be in District 3, which just happens to be my district.

2:57

Also, we want to highlight the second police district officers who responded to the vandalism and related arson at Bradley Hills Elementary School in Bethesda.

3:08

This was a joint investigation between the Montgomery County Department of Police and the Montgomery County Fire and Explosives Investigative Unit.

3:17

Moreover, we just learned today that the Montgomery County Police Department is the first department in Maryland to complete the International Association of Chiefs of Police, IACP, Community Trust Building Campaign.

3:32

And that deserves a round of applause, please.

3:38

Congratulations to our Air MCPD.

3:41

And again, we want to thank, very publicly thank our safety professionals for what they do.

3:47

Hopefully, this proclamation exemplifies their strong support and appreciation.

3:52

I'm now going to call on my other members of the public safety committee, wherever they are.

3:58

And then I'm doing this in alphabetical order.

4:01

I'm not going to do this in alphabetic order.

4:04

We're going to do it in reverse alphabetical order.

4:10

Good morning, everybody.

4:13

Thank you, everyone, for being here today.

4:15

And to everyone behind me and to everyone who you are standing here representing today.

4:35

Because here in Montgomery County, we recognize that having uh appropriate uh emergency response, appropriate public safety, uh is really layered.

4:44

So our our HHS department is part of that infrastructure.

4:50

Our our teams at the Crisis Center, the mobile crisis teams are part of that infrastructure.

5:00

When we have uh severe flooding at um, we have our some of our tenant unions here at some of our local apartments, uh, and we need emergency response.

5:07

We are calling on our public safety infrastructure.

5:11

So we are are deeply grateful to everyone who chooses the path for their careers uh and to their families uh to make sure that we are staying as safe as possible here in Montgomery County to set the standard uh in many ways.

5:26

Very proud that uh, for example, we had uh the Trust Act passed unanimously here in Montgomery County before the statewide bill.

5:34

And I will note that we needed that statewide bill because there were other jurisdictions where there were other public safety um officials who were saying that they wanted to collaborate with ICE, that they intended to do so uh even without a formal agreement in place, and um we weren't doing that here.

5:53

And we said we're not gonna do that here because we recognize uh that trust uh with the community requires a different path.

6:00

So thank you all for thank you all very much.

6:05

Good morning, everyone.

6:07

Um thank you for everyone for coming out.

6:10

I I do note that that uh division chief Richards said uh geez, D.

6:15

Howard said they're all gonna stand in the back, which is true.

6:20

Um and and I note our police chief, he's in the way back, right?

6:24

Um, but he is here.

6:26

So I I just want to say I value our entire public safety ecosystem so tremendously.

6:32

And what I want to focus on, because these are folks who are out there day in, day out doing difficult work.

6:39

There is no telework for our friends behind me.

6:43

There is no telework that they can turn to.

6:48

It's day in, day out serving the people of Montgomery County.

6:53

And I've been a consumer of your services over here, our EMS friends.

6:57

Thank you.

6:58

Um, and and I can tell you how important it is when something's wrong medically, when there's an emergency, when you need help, knowing that you have trusted, highly trained, highly skilled professionals who are there to serve you.

7:16

And they have to see folks on some of their most difficult days of their lives.

7:22

And they do it with respect and with strength.

7:27

And when that call is over, they go out and do it again.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Fiscal Sustainability██████████████████████22%

Budget Equity Analysis████████████████████20%

Procedural████████████████16%

Public Safety██████████████14%

Community Engagement██████6%

Racial Equity█████5%

Data Center Regulation███3%

Arts And Culture███3%

Public Education███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Montgomery County Council Meeting Summary - May 12, 2026

The Montgomery County Council held a full-day session on May 12, 2026, from 10:45 a.m. to 7:35 p.m., including proclamations, bill introductions, consent calendar approvals, public hearings on multiple supplemental appropriations and the FY27 income tax rates, a status report on the FY27 operating budget, and an evening discussion with the Maryland Municipal League. Significant debate centered on balancing the FY27 budget, with the Council needing to identify an additional $113.7 million in reductions and considering options such as a progressive income tax structure, elimination of the Income Tax Offset Credit (ITOC), and potential spending cuts.

Proclamations & Commemorations

Public Safety Appreciation Week – Proclamation presented by the Public Safety Committee, recognizing approximately 4,100 public safety professionals.
National Day of Prayer – Proclamation presented by Councilmember Jawando, highlighting the county's religious diversity.
Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month – Commemoration held, noting over 162,000 county residents (more than 15% of the population) identify as AANHPI, with over 37 countries of origin. Council President Fani-González and Councilmember Mink condemned racist attacks against Delegate Chao Wu.
ALS Awareness Month – Proclamation presented, honoring Steve Goldstein and Beth, with the ALS Association reporting $154 million invested in research.

General Business & Legislative Session

Minutes Approved – Minutes from April 14, 2026 (open and closed sessions) and April 21, 2026 Council session approved without objection.
Expedited Bill 23-26 – Introduced by Councilmember Luedtke to restrict ghost guns near minors and firearms near places of public assembly, aligning county law with a Maryland Supreme Court ruling. Co-sponsors added: Councilmembers Fani-González, Friedson, Balcombe, Katz, Evans, Glass. Public hearing set for June 9, 2026.
Expedited Bill 24-26 – Introduced by Councilmember Jawando to impose a two-year moratorium on new data center building permits, pending updates to noise ordinances, water cooling requirements, and grid capacity analysis. Co-sponsor added: Councilmember Mink. Public hearing set for June 16, 2026.

Consent Calendar

Approved unanimously (11-0) with a motion by Vice President Balcombe:

A. Received and released OLO Report 2026-8 on regional affordable housing programs.
B. Introduced Supplemental Appropriation #26-77 – MCPS Planned Life Cycle Asset Replacement ($602,651, Aging Schools Program).
C. Introduced CIP Amendment and Supplemental Appropriation #26-79 – MCPS Sustainability Initiatives ($3,222,655, State Aid).
D. Introduced Supplemental Appropriation #26-83 – MCPS Technology Modernization ($1,518,337, Federal Aid).
E. Adopted Resolution 20-1106 – Executive Regulation #30-25 extending Racial Equity Action Plan deadlines.
F. Adopted Resolution 20-1107 – Supplemental Appropriation #26-14 – Emergency Family Shelter Services ($3,064,158, General Fund Undesignated Reserves).
G. Adopted Resolution 20-1108 – Supplemental Appropriation #26-61 – Takoma Park Car Wash Small Business Revitalization ($200,000, State Aid).
H. Adopted Resolution 20-1109 – Abandonment of public rights-of-way at 2nd Avenue and Fenwick Lane.
I. Adopted Resolution 20-1110 – Confirmed Human Rights Commission appointments.

Public Hearings & Actions

Items 4-7 (Public Hearing and Action):

#26-71 – Nonprofit Security Grant Program ($500,000). Adopted 10-0 (Jawando absent, later noted support).
#26-72 – National Capital Strategic Economic Development Program ($500,000, State Grant). Adopted 10-0.
#26-73 – MCPS Reappropriation of Fund Balance for winter weather impacts ($8,500,000). Adopted 10-0.
#26-45 – Correctional Facility Refresh ($481,000, GO Bonds). Adopted 10-0.

Item 8 – Public Hearing: Supplemental Appropriation #26-68 – 4th District Police Station Move and Space Modifications ($994,000). Record open until May 21, 2026. Public Safety Committee worksession scheduled for June 8, 2026. Lee Holland (FOP President) testified in support, describing hazardous conditions including mold and rodent infestations.

Item 9 – Public Hearing: FY27 Capital Budget and FY27-32 CIP projects: Glen Echo Spanish Ballroom Renovation and Northwest High School. Record open until May 14, 2026. Action tentatively scheduled for May 21, 2026.

Item 10 – Public Hearing: Resolution to Set the County Income Tax Rates. Record open until close of business May 12, 2026. Action tentatively scheduled for May 13, 2026. Multiple public speakers testified against the proposed income tax increase and elimination of the ITOC, including concerns about affordability, economic competitiveness, and impacts on low-income and Black homeowners.

Public Comments on Income Tax Rates

Gordy Brandon (Taxpayers League) urged tying MCPS funding to academic performance targets and opposed progressive tax structure.
Spencer Roda (Delegate candidate) called for spending discipline and opposed tax increases.
Robin Ficker argued tax increases drive businesses out; cited examples of Epic Games, Google, and Amazon choosing other locations.
Esther Wildes (CPA) warned eliminating ITOC would displace Black homeowners, calling it "constructive foreclosure."
Rick Moy (Naval Academy graduate, candidate for District 3) opposed raising income tax.
George Hernandez (virtual) expressed concern about millennials leaving the county due to high taxes.

Status Report: FY27 Operating Budget

Council Executive Director Howard and Deputy Director Smith presented:

Current shortfall: Council must identify an additional $113.7 million in reductions to balance the FY27 budget.
Resource changes: Council recommended net decrease of $126.2 million (rejected executive's 6.3-cent property tax increase; adopted progressive income tax; reduced ITOC to $0; applied $44 million one-time revenue to capital budget for school infrastructure).
Reductions to date: $12.5 million in reductions adopted; reconciliation list totals $233.9 million ($215.1 million from executive's recommendation, $18.8 million council additions).
Available funding: Based on decisions as of May 8, $101.4 million could be funded from reconciliation list.
Staff proposal: Priority block of $92.4 million in reconciliation items, leaving $9.0 million for other items.
Tax comparison: Council's proposal generally results in lower combined property and income tax burdens for most example households compared to the executive's proposal.
Discussion: Councilmembers expressed concern that current plan underfunds MCPS, parks, HHS, and public safety. Councilmember Stewart proposed a two-cent property tax increase ($52.2 million) but lacked majority support. Council President Fani-González opposed using reserves. Councilmember Jawando noted his previously released list of 81 potential reductions totaling $70 million. Councilmembers requested additional modeling and submission of reduction proposals by 7:00 p.m.

Key Outcomes

Minutes approved.
Bills introduced – Expedited Bills 23-26 and 24-26.
Consent calendar approved 11-0.
Supplemental appropriations #26-71, #26-72, #26-73, #26-45 adopted 10-0 each.
Public hearings held on police station move (item 8), CIP projects (item 9), and income tax rates (item 10); records remain open for additional written testimony.
FY27 budget status report received; full Council will vote on budget and reconciliation items on May 13, 2026.
Councilmembers directed to submit additional reduction proposals and requests to modify the priority block by 7:00 p.m. May 12.
Evening discussion with Maryland Municipal League addressed county budget impacts on municipalities, police staffing, and economic development; no votes taken.

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, everyone. My name is Natalie Fanny Gonzalez and the Montgomery County Council President. Today is May 12th, and it's so beautiful outside. I had to say that. We're going to start the day with an amazing proclamation recognizing our public safety officers. It's Police Safety Appreciation Week, and this proclamation is led by the Montgomery County Council Public Safety Committee. If you're here for that proclamation, please come forward. Well, good morning all, and thank you for joining us. It's moments like this. You wonder if there's an emergency in Montgomery County, who's going to handle it for us, because we have a feeling that they would handle it, believe me. We would we would be getting out of their way. This is on behalf of the Public Safety Committee. We are honored to recognize Public Safety Appreciation Week. This well-deserved proclamation allows us to pause to pay tribute and to thank our public safety professionals from various organizations. These hardworking individuals dedicate their careers to public safety and make incredible personal sacrifices to keep our friends, neighbors, and community safe. A safe community is important as it allows our residents to live, work, worship, play, and thrive in our everyday lives. It is of utmost importance to provide our public safety departments with the resources and tools that they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. This year, our county launched the public safety joint operations center created by the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. The center is in the county's public safety headquarters in Gaithersburg, which just happens to be in District 3, which just happens to be my district. Also, we want to highlight the second police district officers who responded to the vandalism and related arson at Bradley Hills Elementary School in Bethesda. This was a joint investigation between the Montgomery County Department of Police and the Montgomery County Fire and Explosives Investigative Unit. Moreover, we just learned today that the Montgomery County Police Department is the first department in Maryland to complete the International Association of Chiefs of Police, IACP, Community Trust Building Campaign. And that deserves a round of applause, please. Congratulations to our Air MCPD. And again, we want to thank, very publicly thank our safety professionals for what they do. Hopefully, this proclamation exemplifies their strong support and appreciation. I'm now going to call on my other members of the public safety committee, wherever they are. And then I'm doing this in alphabetical order. I'm not going to do this in alphabetic order. We're going to do it in reverse alphabetical order. Good morning, everybody. Thank you, everyone, for being here today. And to everyone behind me and to everyone who you are standing here representing today. Because here in Montgomery County, we recognize that having uh appropriate uh emergency response, appropriate public safety, uh is really layered. So our our HHS department is part of that infrastructure. Our our teams at the Crisis Center, the mobile crisis teams are part of that infrastructure. When we have uh severe flooding at um, we have our some of our tenant unions here at some of our local apartments, uh, and we need emergency response. We are calling on our public safety infrastructure. So we are are deeply grateful to everyone who chooses the path for their careers uh and to their families uh to make sure that we are staying as safe as possible here in Montgomery County to set the standard uh in many ways. Very proud that uh, for example, we had uh the Trust Act passed unanimously here in Montgomery County before the statewide bill. And I will note that we needed that statewide bill because there were other jurisdictions where there were other public safety um officials who were saying that they wanted to collaborate with ICE, that they intended to do so uh even without a formal agreement in place, and um we weren't doing that here. And we said we're not gonna do that here because we recognize uh that trust uh with the community requires a different path. So thank you all for thank you all very much. Good morning, everyone. Um thank you for everyone for coming out. I I do note that that uh division chief Richards said uh geez, D. Howard said they're all gonna stand in the back, which is true. Um and and I note our police chief, he's in the way back, right? Um, but he is here. So I I just want to say I value our entire public safety ecosystem so tremendously.

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