Gaithersburg approves $69M budget for upcoming fiscal year

Spending cut 3.6% from early plan due to projected revenue losses from COVID-19

June 5, 2020 2:06 a.m.

The Gaithersburg City Council on Monday passed its $69.35 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1.

The vote was unanimous among the five council members, according to city spokeswoman Britta Monaco.

The adopted budget is 3.6% lower than the one introduced in mid-March, which was $71.97 million. The decrease came because of anticipated revenue losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Among the anticipated revenue changes were:

  • A $1.4 million decrease in local tax revenue. This includes the hotel/motel tax and the admissions & amusements tax, both of which are likely to diminish next year due to the health crisis, former City Manager Tony Tomasello has said.
  • A decrease of $519,933 in intergovernmental revenues, which include income tax revenue.
  • A $901,388 decrease in charges for services.

The council introduced its proposed budget on March 16, which was 11 days after the first three cases of the coronavirus were reported in Montgomery County. The city’s staff and the council spent the next couple of months making changes to the budget in response to the health crisis.

The public was allowed to send in comments electronically through May 13.

Among expenditures, the adopted budget cuts $525,163 from what was originally proposed for public works. The cuts include the reduction of hiring seasonal employees for the operations division and cuts to funding for facilities maintenance.

The parks and recreation budget was cut by $352,393 from the proposed budget. This included cuts to programs at facilities at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, the Gaithersburg Youth Center at Olde Towne, Gaithersburg Aquatic Center and Kentlands Mansion. There are also cuts to the city’s special events budget.

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The council in April discussed holding fewer events to save money and to comply with social distancing restrictions during the health crisis.

All departments in the city reduced merit pay increases from 3% to 1%. Departments are implementing hiring freezes for vacancies. For one new police officer position, only six months of salary will be paid.

Acting City Manager Dennis Enslinger said during a meeting on Monday that the city has increased its budget for the community nonprofit program.

“Those programs support local nonprofits who we look to provide basic safety net services — education, financial and mental health support programs. To note, the FY 21 budget is just over $1 million,” he said.

“We feel like this is the best way to serve residents during this time of need,” he said.

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Enslinger thanked the city’s staff for revising the budget in a short period in response to the health crisis. He added that there is flexibility in the budget if the city needs to revise it again mid-year.

“We also have the ability, should the financial revenues not come in, to look at a couple of other items in order to meet the projected revenue for [FY] 21,” he said.

Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media

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