On the Agenda: Rockville City Council Holds First Budget Hearing Tonight

A hearing on the city’s fiscal year 2014 budget and discussion of the 2012 Citizens Survey results top the Rockville City Council’s agenda for Monday.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting will be broadcast live on Rockville 11.

Closed Session

The Rockville mayor and council will meet in closed session at 6:15 p.m. to consult with counsel to obtain legal advice regarding the Maryland Public Information Act.

Public Hearing: 2014 Fiscal Budget

The council will hold the first of three public hearings on the city’s proposed fiscal year 2014 operating and capital budgets, which would take effect July 1.

City staff presented the proposed budget at the March 18 council meeting. The proposed operating budget is $112 million. The proposed capital budget is $67.5 million.

Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio and the council are expected to adopt a budget on May 20. Here’s the rest of the budget schedule:

April 8

Mayor and council work session

April 15

Public Hearing
Mayor and council work session

April 29

Public Hearing
Mayor and council work session

May 6

Mayor and council work session —final direction to staff

The budget is also posted at the city’s website, RockvilleMD.gov/budget.

The proposed operating budget is 4.5 percent higher than the current budget and includes unexpected revenue from taxes, red-light camera violations and, possibly, more funding from the state—and without a property tax hike council members once feared could be necessary to maintain services.

The operating budget would fund 47 infrastructure projects and includes a $43.3 million carryover from prior years.

Discussion: Citizens Survey Results

Rockville residents slightly favor cutting services over raising taxes, according to the results of the city’s most recent citizens survey.

The city had a $33,520 contract with the Boulder, CO-based National Research Center to mail the survey to 2,000 city residents. The city also had an $8,875 contract with Rockville-based Dragonbridge for translation services.

Of the mailings, 682 residents responded to the survey, according to city records.

The survey is used to gauge residents’ satisfaction with city services and to develop budget priorities. Tax hike vs. service cuts was one of several new questions included in the survey.

According to the results:

• 57 percent strongly or somewhat supported reducing services levels
• 42 percent strongly or somewhat supported increasing taxes

The city last used the survey two years ago when it received responses from 761 residents, Patch reported in October.

The results are posted at the city’s website, RockvilleMD.gov.

---

In other council news:

The mayor and council will vote on whether to issue the following proclamations:

Declaring April 2013 as Earth Month; and April 22 as Earth Day

The city has already scheduled several Earth Month events:

April 6

Stream clean ups across the metro region, including Maryvale, Twinbrook and Croydon Creeks in Rockville

April 13

Rainscapes Workshop to Green Your Backyard held at the Croydon Creek Nature Center

April 14

Invasive species pull at the Croydon Creek Nature Center

April 21

Volunteer stream monitoring training

April 26

Clean car clinic at the Thomas Farm Recreation Center

April 27

Spring Fest at Croydon Creek Nature Center

Declaring the Week of April 7-April 14 as National Days of Remembrance

Congress established Days of Remembrance in 1980 as the nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust and created the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. National Days of Remembrance is an annual eight-day period for civic commemorations and special educational programs. 

Mayor and council recognized Days of Remembrance in 1999, 2000 and 2011, city records show.