The County Council’s Education and Culture Committee is recommending that the full council fully fund Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) $3.65 billion operating budget request for fiscal year 2026, although members expressed concern that doing so could require a tax increase as proposed by County Executive Marc Elrich.
“My vote today has an asterisk,” councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D- At-large) told MCPS leadership after the unanimous vote by the three-member committee Wednesday. “I just want to let you all know and don’t want the public to be surprised that my vote today may be amended.”
The committee work session meeting included Education and Culture Committee Chair Will Jawando (D- At-large), Councilmember Kristin Mink (D- Dist. 5), Albornoz as well as MCPS leaders Superintendent Thomas Taylor and school board President Julie Yang.
Taylor presented his proposed $3.61 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1, in December, describing it as an attempt to provide the district with “long-term stability.” The county school board tentatively approved a $3.65 billion operating budget – representing a slight increase over Taylor’s recommendation — for the upcoming fiscal year on Feb. 4.
Taylor’s recommendation represents a nearly 9% increase over current spending. The proposed $300 million total increase in MCPS spending from fiscal year 2025 comes in the wake of a difficult budget season in 2024 in which the county school board had to make significant spending cuts. The cuts were needed to close a spending gap after the council approved a fiscal year 2025 MCPS operating budget that was $30.5 million less in spending than the school board requested. The operating budget for fiscal year 2025, which ends June 30, is $3.32 billion.
The additional $300 million included in the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget would help pay for spending that includes an expected 3.25% base salary increase for staff and the proposed addition of 688 special education positions and 52 additional security staff members, among other expenses, according to MCPS officials.
In order to fully fund the MCPS request, County Executive Marc Elrich (D) in March proposed a 3.4% property tax rate increase. Elrich scrapped the proposed property tax rate increase April 23, in favor of an increase to the county’s income tax rate – from 3.2% to 3.3%.
The proposed income tax increase is part of Elrich’s recommended $7.65 billion county operating budget plan for fiscal year 2026. The spending plan represents an increase of 7.4% from the county’s current $7.1 billion operating budget.
It is now up to the full council to determine a final county operating budget, including whether to adopt Elrich’s proposed income tax increase and the education committee’s recommendations for the MCPS budget. The council is required to make a formal decision on any tax changes by May 15 if they are to be implemented in fiscal year 2026.
The MCPS community has urged Elrich and the council to approve the school board’s requested funds for the district at rallies and during council meetings.
Jawando said MCPS has made “significant progress” in the level of detail provided in the district’s budget request when compared to budget proposals in past years, which gave him more confidence. The County Council has raised concerns about school board leadership and transparency surrounding the budget in past years. During the fiscal year 2025 operating budget cycle former council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said the board showed a “lack of leadership” in budget decisions.
“No one is entering this budget questioning whether the school system needs funds to do these things. And that is a big accomplishment,” Jawando said. “A couple years ago that was not the case.”
The committee members noted that while they were recommending that the council fully fund the MCPS budget request, the recommendation would need to be revisited if the council doesn’t approve the proposed income tax rate increase.
“I place a very a high priority on our schools and ensuring we have public education that is well-funded, and this is very much bare-bones and needed but we don’t know what dollars are going to be there,” Mink said.
Albornoz, who served as director of the county’s recreation department, said other government agencies often suffer the brunt of budget cuts when funding gaps arise due to the way the county operating budget is structured. MCPS makes up nearly half of county spending, and due to state and federal laws, the district must at a minimum maintain funding levels from the previous fiscal year.
“In 2007 and 2008, a couple [government agencies] got slaughtered and I was the director of one of them,” Albornoz said. “I don’t want that to happen again.”
During the committee meeting, Yang thanked the committee for the recommendation, saying the district would be investing in a “bread and butter” budget that addresses a variety of needs in the county public schools.
The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA), the local teachers union, also praised the decision in a Thursday statement, but said it was concerned that Albornoz may change his mind when the council determines a final operating budget.
“It’s now up to the entire County Council to vote on whether to preserve and protect public education in this county – during a time when public education itself is under attack,” MCEA President David Stein said in the statement. “This will ensure that Montgomery County schools and students have the resources they need to succeed. And let me be clear: educators are watching and waiting for the Council to do the right thing.”
Bethesda Today reporter Ginny Bixby contributed to this report
