The Montgomery County Council convened on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. to take final action on the FY27 Capital Budget, FY27–32 Capital Improvements Program (CIP), and the FY27 Operating Budget, along with additional resolutions and bill introductions. Council President Natali Fani-González presided. The meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
Good morning, everyone. Today is May 21st. My name is Natalie Fanny Gonzalez, and today is the day when we land the plane. I'm gonna say that. So I am Councilmember Natalie Fanny Gonzalez, and we're meeting to take the final action on the FY27 Capital Budget and F and oh, this is bone. FY27 uh budget in the FY27-32 capital improvement program and a few additional business that we have at the end of the day. Um I'm gonna start with uh Madame Claire. Do you have any announcements to share today? Good morning, thank you. There are two changes on today's agenda. Item 21, a resolution to set the amount of property tax credit for income tax offset, has been moved on the agenda to take place after item number 15. Also, item 23, a resolution authorizing the substitution of current revenue has been deleted from the agenda because it is a duplicate item. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now uh we have the minutes from April 28, 2026 council session. They have been circulated to the council for review. Are there any objections for approving these minutes? No, seeing none, these minutes are approved. Now we're gonna take council action to approve the we're gonna start with the uh the resolutions for the FY27 capital budget and FY27-32 capital improvement program. Um before I start calling on the votes. I just wanna state that once again this was a very challenging budget, very emotional too. Uh the most challenging since the Great Recession, I would say. Um, and there were many factors involved besides just the economic uh realities that we're facing in Montgomery County in the Washington DC region. Uh, but we also have a lot to be proud of and celebrate, even with all the challenges that we encounter. I think the fact that this council decided to help to hold the line on the property tax increases by the county executive was a big deal, and to also hold the line on the 3.3 income tax increase for everybody, regardless of how much money they make, was also a big deal. And I saw that part of my role as council president was to also encourage council members to offer you know reductions or ways to balance this challenging uh budget. I have recognized in the past quite a few colleagues, uh, but there's one more person that I also want to give um recognition, and that's council member um Kristen Mink, who offer you know a path forward, uh including one that did not include the ITAC, right? She did that. But at the end of the day, let's remember this is where 11 council members, and this is how the legislative uh process works. You need a majority to move your ideas forward uh for that particular proposal. Um it just didn't happen. We, the majority of the council decided to eliminate the ITAC and use the money for other important things. Um, but I just want to recognize that she hustled and uh and that she did her part to to put that idea forward. Um I do also want to take the opportunity, um, since we're talking about the ITAC to understand that the ITOC is a tax credit that is only available for owners of properties who live in that property. It doesn't, tenants don't get that benefit. Um that benefit is usually received by people who apply. You must apply to get it. And it's usually folks who have an accountant who know about these things. And the other tax property credits that we have in the county, like the homestead, they're still in place. Nobody's touching them. This is only for the ITAC. And I and we're using the money to fund important programs, including uh MCPS. That was the that was the last vote that we had here. Uh the needs are huge, and we had to be very strategic on how we use the funds that we have. So I feel that I had to say that one more time before we start taking action. And with that, we're gonna start. Um I need a motion to move uh the first items from one to nine in a block in a block as a group. And uh I need a motion. So move moved by council member Kate Stewart, second by council member Meryland Balcon. All those in favor, please raise your hand.