A screengrab of the Fiscal Year 2026 $7.7B budget across all of Montgomery County.
Source: https://apps.montgomerycountymd.gov/BASISOPERATING/Common/Index.aspx
March and April are big months for Montgomery County. March brings Crossover in the General Assembly, and the County Executive’s recommended budget. For those who are unfamiliar, Marc Elrich recommended his budget to the County Council on March 14th, with a statement you can read here. Similar to the state budget, it is a tough budget year – we will need your help to fight for the funding that the environment and the communities who live in it deserve!
For Nature Forward, there are a few changes that I want to highlight within this year’s budget. As I loved to write in my old boss’ speeches, budgets are living documents that demonstrate our County’s values. Therefore, this blog post will be a living document as I hunt down information about these different line items. Always feel free to reach out if you have questions or concerns.
Line Item Changes and Questions:
- The Climate Change Planning Program has the same budget as last year, so functionally is being reduced due to inflation. I am curious about where this money is going and what programs are being funded since there are not any Full Time Employees (FTEs) associated with this particular item.
- Parks received a recommendation of a 3.4% increase from the FY25 Approved Budget.They asked for a 7.2% increase. They were also hit with a 2 million cut in the current Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) Budget – this money was going to crucial stormwater management of a parking lot that would lead directly into Pine Lake. We are asking the County Council to at least fund the base request so Parks can uphold their Union contracts, contribute to the Purple Line, and continue their exemplary service. You can read Parks’ statement on the budget here.
- Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice received a 6.94% percent and we hope their work continues to advance justice despite the federal level changes.
- Office of Agriculture received a recommended 5.26% increase.
- Department of Environmental Protection received a 7.71% increase. We were excited to learn that this increase would allow for an internship program to increase the green jobs pipeline and $350,000 for the Bag Ban education and implementation. We were glad to see that the Watershed Restoration projects matched inflation at the very least. We would have liked to see additional funds towards tree planting and Energy, Climate and Compliance.
- Recycling and Resource Management received a whopping 28.60% increase from from the FY25 Approved Budget of $154,860,183. The increase is almost completely in Disposal, which went up from $64MM to $102MM. As far as we can tell, there has been no explanation as to why disposal has such an increase.
What Can You Do?
- Write to your County Council member using our form below – do not forget to include your At-Large members, and the heads of the Transportation & Environment Committee in your thoughts.
- Sign up to testify in support of the environment on April 7-9 here. You can also submit written testimony, or send in a pre-recorded video (which I will be doing!).
- Got the capital budget bug? You can attend the County Executive’s Community Conversations to hear from him and your neighbors on their priorities for FY27. If you cannot get to one of the in person days, there will be a virtual conversation on May 6.