Updated at 12:20 p.m. – Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett on Friday recommended a $4.4 billion capital budget for the next six years, a 3.1 percent decrease from the current six-year capital budget that Leggett said allows room for more spending on the Purple Line light-rail and White Oak redevelopment projects despite the county’s budget difficulties.
“We are still negotiating the final details regarding high priority projects such as the Purple Line and White Oak Redevelopment,” Leggett wrote in a memo delivered Friday to County Council President Nancy Floreen. “Therefore, I have held additional fiscal capacity to allow appropriations when needed. As planning progresses for these two projects, I will submit [capital improvements program] amendments to move these priorities forward.”
Leggett also said officials faced “serious challenges” in developing the budget recommendations, including lower-than-expected revenue estimates and the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Wynne tax case, which could cost the county more than $100 million over the next few years.
Leggett’s recommended $1.57 billion over the next six years for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) would be the most ever provided for schools but about $140 million less than what the school system requested in October.
The Board of Education asked for a capital budget increase of $184.5 million. Leggett recommended an increase of $42.5 million.
“The county has no capacity to borrow additional funds beyond those I have recommended without jeopardizing other important operating budget priorities—including Maintenance of Effort requirements for MCPS,” Leggett wrote. “As such, State Aid will continue to be critical to addressing MCPS’ capital budget needs.”
Leggett also said that “based on recent information” Gov. Larry Hogan intends to increase school construction funding this year.
In a prepared statement, Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers and Board of Education President Michael Durso called Leggett's recommendations "disappointing."
“We certainly recognize that funds are not limitless but it is essential that we continue investing in school construction to meet the needs of our surging enrollment," the statement read. "This recommended level of funding potentially means significant delays in numerous projects."
Leggett’s recommendations include $305.2 million for Montgomery College so it can complete construction of a planned Student Services Center.
The recommended budget includes $192.1 million for four Purple Line-related projects, including $40 million for the light-rail itself that Leggett promised Hogan last summer as the governor moved to cut the state’s share of the costs for the 16-mile system.
The bulk of the $40 million would be spent from 2019 to 2022. Leggett also requested an appropriation for the fiscal year that ends July 1 to buy land in the project’s right-of-way and said full costs and the funding schedule won’t be known “until the state’s negotiations with the selected concessionaire are concluded this spring.”
The county expects construction of the Purple Line to start late this year or early next year and last five years.
The rest of the funding devoted to the Purple Line will go to building the Capital Crescent Trail extension, Silver Spring Green Trail and Bethesda Metro Station South Entrance—three projects the county had already committed to funding.
After Leggett’s failed attempt last year at creating an independent transit authority to fund bus rapid transit, the recommended budget includes $2.6 million to continue ongoing facility planning for bus rapid transit routes on Route 29 and Rockville Pike.
Leggett said he expects to submit an amendment on redevelopment in White Oak to the recommended budget this spring. The county is in negotiations with a private developer over how to proceed on a 300-acre project the county hopes will attract new housing, retail and medical and life-science firms.
State regulators recently approved Washington Adventist Hospital’s plans to move from Takoma Park to White Oak.
The council is expected to review the recommendations over the next few months and approve the capital budget in May.
