Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett said Wednesday his staff is working to correct a mistake that resulted in the inclusion of a 1 percent cut to nonprofit grant funding in the proposed fiscal 2018 budget.
Leggett said in an interview with Bethesda Beat that he intended to increase the grant funding to certain nonprofits by 1 percent, rather than cut grant funding by $600,000 as recommended in his proposed $5.44 billion budget submitted to the County Council last month.
He said he proposed a 1 percent increase in grant funding last year that was then doubled by the council. In his proposed fiscal 2018 budget, he again expected to increase the fund by just 1 percent, but the figures in the spending plan reflected a 1 percent decrease instead.
“My original intent was to provide a reduction, but that reduction was the difference between what the council did last year and what I proposed,” Leggett said.
He said his office may send a supplemental appropriation to the council to fix the budget as well as look to cut spending elsewhere to find the money necessary to fund the 1 percent increase, which would total about $1.2 million over what was proposed.
“I wanted to make sure my recommendation is consistent with what the intent was while we make the adjustments,” Leggett said.
Concern over the proposed cut to funding for nonprofits that include those offering after-school programs for at-risk kids, community meals for the hungry and workforce training drew more than 100 nonprofit workers and supporters to the County Council Office Building for a rally on Monday morning.
At the event, seven council members said they would restore the funding and possibly increase it by as much as 3 percent—a number that would cost the county about $2 million.
Council member George Leventhal said Thursday the proposed cut was “conspicuous” given the county’s healthy overall budget. The council’s Health and Human Services Committee is scheduled to review the proposed nonprofit funding at its meeting Thursday afternoon.
