Elrich: Revised capital budget would fund Woodward High School auditorium

County executive continues to lobby for special taxing districts to fund infrastructure

January 16, 2025 10:49 a.m.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s revised capital budget proposal calls for the county to help pay for construction of an auditorium at Charles W. Woodward High School in Rockville, potentially alleviating significant complaints and criticism from the school community after the project was cut from the fiscal year 2025 capital budget.

In March, the county school board delayed the construction of the auditorium at the newly rebuilt school because of budget shortfalls and other issues. Though the school doesn’t officially open until 2027, Northwood High School has moved into the building while its facility is being rebuilt in Silver Spring.

Elrich’s revised proposal also includes increased funding to build the auditorium; stadium and classrooms at Gaithersburg’s new Crown High School, set to open in 2027; and stadium upgrades for the new Northwood High, also set to open in 2027; as well as HVAC upgrades across the school system.

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“The schools don’t have any funding sources other than us, so we’re holding the bag, and we’re going have to pay the difference here,” Elrich (D) said while announcing his proposal during a media briefing Wednesday.

Elrich’s capital budget and Capital Improvement Program (CIP) of nearly $6 billion for fiscal years 2025-2030 was approved in 2024, so there are no major proposed changes for fiscal year 2026, which starts July 1. However, Elrich and his staff were able to make some minor amendments based on certain eligibility criteria, such as urgent health and safety issues and acquisition of state and federal grant funding, according to county budget and management specialist Rachel Silberman.

“In terms of the challenges, we are continuing to see high construction costs at bid for projects,” Silberman said during the media briefing. “So some of those COVID influences continue to remain with us, and that has the effect of eroding the buying power of the resources that we do have available to support the CIP.”

The revised budget also includes earmarked state and federal funding for such projects as the North Bethesda Metro station entrance reconstruction, county bus stop safety improvements, and design and construction of a satellite police station in Olney.

The proposed changes still must be approved by the County Council as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget process. Elrich will introduce his proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2026 in March.

In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Stewart told Bethesda Today she was pleased about the proposed additional funding for the school infrastructure projects. She was vocal in 2024 about her disappointment with cuts to the auditorium project at Woodward, which is in her district, during the fiscal year 2026 budget deliberations.

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“The county executive’s CIP is reflective of what the superintendent and the school board has asked regarding the MCPS budget, and that is good,” Stewart said. “We are moving forward.”

Elrich rails against impact tax district update

During Elrich’s media briefing, he complained about the council’s decision to update the county’s development impact tax districts. According to Stewart, the council did not compromise funding for public school infrastructure in its decision to update tax districts. However, the council chose to reduce transportation impact taxes that would be applied in some areas to encourage certain types of development.

Under the change, some developments are no longer subject to development impact taxes, based on their location or the type of project, or may pay a lower rate than in the past. The legislation applies to any building permit filed with the county on or after Jan. 1.

Elrich has continued to rail against the council’s decision, despite the council’s unanimous decision to overturn his veto of the legislation.

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“Recent decisions by the council to reduce impact taxes have compounded our long-term funding challenges,” Elrich said Wednesday. “I want to be clear — I am more than happy not just to reduce impact taxes, I’ve made proposals to eliminate the impact taxes. But you can’t eliminate the taxes if you don’t provide replacement sources of revenue.”

Stewart told Bethesda Today on Wednesday that the council’s formation of a committee to “holistically assess” the county’s source of infrastructure revenue aims to address concerns.

“We all agreed that moving forward, we needed to find a better way to fund our infrastructure and growth in the county,” Stewart said. “The council and the county executive can all agree that is not working. And what the council did … was put in place exemptions so that we can encourage the type of housing development that we need in the county. It was very important to all of us that we kept [the school impact tax], because if you don’t have the development, then you don’t get the impact tax.”

Elrich also repeated one of his frequent talking points — his desire to emulate Northern Virginia’s special taxing districts, which allow the collection of taxes in those districts to fund transportation projects.

“The developers over there are thrilled because of the Metro stations and the ability to make much greater value out of their land,” Elrich said. “So Virginia developers have seen it as a positive and for some reason, the county here has been allergic to it for at least 20 years.”


Elrich said he is hopeful that state legislators will take up the issue of special taxing districts during the General Assembly session, which began Jan. 8.

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