Thursday, May 16, 2013
The plan includes tax increase, more cops in schools and more food resources for the poor.
No one went hungry in the $4.8 billion budget Montgomery County Council members tentatively approved Thursday. Key county agencies, including police, fire and rescue, schools and health and human services will receive more aid and new positions, according to an outline of the tentative spending plan released by the council. The council is scheduled to hold a final vote on the budget May 23, the last council session before a three-week recess. All nine council members voted to give tentative approval to the plan for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. "Budgets are a reflection of our values. There are always more needs, and more wants, than there are resources available," Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist 4) of Silver Spring said in a …
Monday, May 6, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
Montgomery County Council members will continue to discuss Fiscal Year 2014's budget at its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, May 7, at 9:30 a.m. in Rockville. Allotments for several county agencies, including public safety divisions, housing and affordable housing programs and education and early childhood programs will be approved based on recommendations from the Council committees. Fiscal Year 2014 begins July 1, 2013. (Read the entire council agenda, attached to this article.)
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Councilman Philip Andrews, a vocal opponent of the raises, was the only dissenting vote.
All but one member of the Montgomery County Council voted to approve pay raises for county government, police and fire and rescue employees Tuesday. It will be the first raise for government employees in four years. Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist 3) of Gaithersburg, was the only dissenting vote. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) negotiated the pay increases in his $4.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2014 as part of new two-year contracts with employees’ unions. Fiscal 2014 begins July 1. Most county employees will receive two raises this summer: a cost-of-living increase and a step increase. A step is a pay raise for one year of service. Police officers will receive an increase equal to one-and-a-half steps and firefighters …
Monday, April 29, 2013
Montgomery County Council meets most Tuesdays in Rockville.
Montgomery County Councilmembers will discuss county employee contracts at its next meeting, planned for Tuesday, April 30, at 9:30 a.m. in Rockville. The Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy committees voted unanimously Thursday to back a proposal to raise county employees’ salaries by up to 3.25 percent. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) negotiated the raises as part of new two-year contracts with employees’ unions and included them as part of his $4.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. (Read the entire council agenda, attached to this article.)
Friday, April 26, 2013
County Council panels vote to back pay bumps for government and public safety workers.
A freeze in cost-of-living raises for Montgomery County government and public safety employees may be thawing out. The Montgomery County Council’s Government Operations and Fiscal Policy committees voted unanimously Thursday to back a proposal to raise county employees’ salaries by up to 3.25 percent. County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) negotiated the raises as part of new two-year contracts with employees’ unions and included them as part of his $4.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. If approved as part of the county budget, the 3.25 percent raise for county government workers would go into effect in September. Police officers would see a 2.1 percent bump in July. Fire and rescue personnel would see a 2.75 …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Four Montgomery County Councilmembers agreed that the one-year-old tax was not appropriate for non-food businesses.
A sweeping measure that aimed to reduce plastic bag consumption and litter in Montgomery County may see its days numbered, at least in the current iteration. County councilmembers Roger Berliner (D-Bethesda), Craig Rice (D-Germantown) and Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) proposed Tuesday to limit the scope of the county's 5-cent bag tax to only apply to food stores, not retail businesses or take-out restaurants. Councilman George Leventhal (D-At Large) decided to co-sponsor the bill during the council meeting. "There are things we need to clean up with this bill," said Rice, noting that he has heard the tax was challenging for clothing retailers. Since the bill went into effect last January, the county has raked in more than $2 million in …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Plan aims to improve business competitiveness by reducing raises for county employees.
Montgomery County Councilman Philip M. Andrews on Tuesday introduced a plan to reduce the 2010 increase in Montgomery County’s energy tax by 10 percent. The county's energy tax was raised by 155 percent on homeowners and by nearly 60 percent on businesses and nonprofit organizations in 2010, according to a County Council news release. A 10 percent reduction would reduce county revenues by $11.4 million in fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg proposes paying for the energy tax reduction by slashing the pay increases for county employees over the next two years. Andrews, who is running for Montgomery County Executive in next year's election, criticized the agreement struck between the county employees unions …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Takoma Park’s Thomas Perez is Obama’s pick to succeed Solis.
President Barack Obama nominated Takoma Park resident and former Montgomery County Councilman Thomas E. Perez as U.S. Secretary of Labor on Monday, CBS News reported. Perez served as secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation under Gov. Martin O’Malley from 2007 until his confirmation in October 2009 as an assistant attorney general heading the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Perez “knows what it's like to climb the ladder of opportunity,” Obama said in a video of Monday’s announcement posted on CBSNews.com. “He's the son of Dominican immigrants. He helped pay his way through college as a garbage collector and working at a warehouse. He went on to become the first lawyer in his family…
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
County Executive Ike Leggett appoints two new assistant chiefs.
Montgomery County Council confirmed on Tuesday County Executive Isiah Leggett’s Montgomery County Police appointments for assistant chiefs: Cmd. Luther Reynolds, and Capt. McSwain. McSwain, director of the Special Operations Division, will be assigned to head the newly created Patrol Services Bureau. Reynolds, who led the Germantown-based 5th District, will head the Management Services Bureau, a Montgomery County police spokeswoman told Patch. According to county records, the appointees will be paid $159,000 salaries. Chief J. Thomas Manger said McSwain and Reynolds would expand his team of assistant chiefs from three to four. “This is a tremendously strong team,” Manger said ahead of the County council’s vote, referring to the …
Sunday, March 10, 2013
New study cites abuse and lax management as reasons for inflated figures.
The Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight released a report Tuesday that found that the majority of more than $63 million in county overtime costs from January 2011 to June 2012 was paid to police and fire agencies and that a significant amount of the extra pay was the result of sick-leave abuse. The study, "Employee Work Hours and Leave in Montgomery County," revealed the county paid $63.3 million in overtime to 6,789 county employees. Click here to read the full report. Montgomery County Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At Large) of Takoma Park described the findings as a “wake-up call to management” and told The Washington Post “someone has to rein in those costs." The study found that approximately 70 percent of the …
jag
12:47 am on Sunday, May 19, 2013
You cite the number of people leaving/dying yet ignore that MORE people than that are becoming millionaires/are millionaires who move into MD. The % of millionaires in MD has continued to increase, y/y. We're up to 7.31% at this point (if I recall correctly that's up from something like 6.7% 2 years back and 6.9% a year ago) - #1 in the nation. This could not be more simple. I certainly hope … more ›