Montgomery Passes Budget That Raises Taxes
By Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 22, 2008; 1:17 PM
With little discussion, Montgomery County Council members this morning gave final approval to a $4.3 billion budget that will bring property tax increases of about 13 percent for the average homeowner and raise energy taxes by about $10 a year for the average household.
Faced with slowing revenue from a weakened housing market, the council voted unanimously to exceed Montgomery's charter limit on property tax revenue for only the fourth time since the cap was approved by voters in 1990.
The council kept the rate at the current level rather than raising it by 7.5 cents as County Executive Isiah Leggett had suggested. But the bill for the median-priced home will still increase $316, or 14.3 percent, to $2,520, because of rising property assessments.
To ease the hit on homeowners, the council also approved a $579 credit for primary residences.
"This budget is a product of bad economic times and required compromises, which doesn't make for an optimal result, just a necessary one," said council member Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda).
For days, the council was deeply divided over whether to revise labor union contracts that provide most government workers with raises of 8 percent. In the end, a compromise left contracts untouched, but requires an additional $16 million in cuts to be evenly divided between county government and school system operations.
Overall spending will increase 4.3 percent, the smallest annual increase in at least 12 years. Funding for the public schools will rise 4.1 percent, a smaller increase than the system requested but $10 million more than Leggett recommended.
Comments(0)