Friday, March 15, 2013
The plan holds the line on property taxes and schools aid and boosts aid for public safety.
A $4.8 billion county operating budget plan unveiled by Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett on Friday holds the line on property taxes and schools spending and adds more than 100 new jobs in public safety and libraries. Leggett (D) presented his budget plan for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1, at a news conference in Rockville. The plan would keep property taxes within the limit allowed by the county charter and below the rate of inflation. Average monthly property taxes would increase by $6.67. Tax-supported government spending would increase by 3.9 percent—less than half the increase in fiscal 2013—to $1.3 billion. Leggett also proposed a slight increase in aid for Montgomery County Public Schools to meet Maryland's maintenance of…
The Montgomery County Executive explained his proposal to increase spending on public safety and hold the line on property taxes.
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) on Friday unveiled his budget proposal for fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. Related Content:
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Fiscal year 2014 budget would delay some planned projects in the 2013-2018 Capital Improvements Program.
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett released his fiscal year 2014 capital budget this past week, and recommended that a number of planned projects in the six-year, $4.37 billion Capital Improvements Program be delayed. Leggett's proposal was released by the county's community relations department. Leggett spoke on the issue of the CIP, stating that "reducing CIP growth and debt service payments is an essential part of my ongoing strategy to ensure that our fiscal house is in order." Regarding the debt service, Leggett explained his recommendations as being limited to "previously established guidelines of $295 million a year in each of the six years in this CIP." Transportation-related projects that would be affected by the amended …
Friday, January 4, 2013
County Councilman could be among crowded Democratic field in 2014.
It’s no secret that Montgomery County Councilman Philip M. Andrews plans to run for Montgomery County Executive in 2014. Now, with 2014 just 361 days away, Andrews has launched a website, the political blog Maryland Juice reported Friday. PhilAndrews.com includes the flag “Phil Andrews for Montgomery County Executive” and tells visitors: “We'll be adding material to our new website over the coming weeks; please return to see what's new!” It also includes a place to sign up to volunteer for the campaign and—as any good campaign site should—a place to donate money. The Democratic councilman from Gaithersburg is in his fourth term representing District 3, which includes Gaithersburg, Rockville, Washington Grove, Leisure World, and parts of…
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Forums scheduled across Montgomery County in January and Feburary.
Montgomery County residents can have their say regarding the county's fiscal 2014 operating budget priorities at five public forums in January and February. The forums, sponsored by County Executive Isiah Leggett, begin at 7 p.m. on: • Jan. 10 at Mid-County Community Recreation Center, 2004 Queensguard Road, in Silver Spring; • Jan. 24 at BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Drive, in Germantown; • Jan. 28, at Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Service Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, in Bethesda; • Jan. 29, Silver Spring Civic Building, One Veterans Plaza, in Silver Spring; and • Feb. 4, Eastern Montgomery Regional Services Center, 3300 Briggs Chaney Road, in Silver Spring. Leggett (D) will unveil his recommendations March 15 for the…
Friday, December 14, 2012
"Such violence directed toward anyone is unspeakable – aimed at little children all the more so," County Executive Isiah Leggett said in a statement.
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett released a statement Friday afternoon in response to a mass shooting at a Newtown, CT, elementary school. Montgomery County police increased presence around schools at dismissal time Friday afternoon “for the comfort of the community." Leggett joined parents, teachers and police officials in expressing sadness and horror. Leggett's words: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families touched by the senseless slaughter perpetrated today at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. “Such violence directed toward anyone is unspeakable – aimed at little children all the more so. There is no point in trying to make sense of it for it makes no sense. “Ralph Waldo Emerson once said…
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Despite pressure to reconsider, Montgomery's two-term county exec has not reversed his decision to step down in 2014.
Last year, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett went on the record saying that he would not seek a third term in office. In this fifth excerpt from a recent interview with Patch editors, Leggett (D) acknowledges that he has been “under a lot of pressure from people asking me to reconsider," but says he hasn't wavered from on his decision not to run, "as of yet." Click here for Part 1 of the interview, in which Leggett discussed the ballot referendum on the Maryland "Dream Act," which allows in-state tuition for certain illegal immigrants. Click here to watch Part 2, on his support for Maryland's historic same-sex marriage law. In Part 3, Leggett talks about the county's fiscal outlook. Part 4 covers Montgomery's projected population …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A wide-open field is beginning to form, including some familiar names.
In politics, the campaign season—and the speculation about the next election—never ends. It just stops for a brief intermission. We call that Election Day. With 2012 in the rear view and 2014 shaping up to be a wide-open race for Montgomery County Executive, candidates—and potential candidates—are gearing up. The early race hit a higher gear on Wednesday as Patch’s Sebastian Montes reported that Douglas M. Duncan, a Democrat, is telling supporters that he will run to reclaim the County Executive post he held from 1994 to 2006. Other familiar names could be on the primary ballot. County Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park held a 50th birthday party fundraiser last week to support his run for County Executive, The …
County Executive Isiah Leggett talks about crossing the million-resident threshold, and how to encourage the right kinds of growth.
Nearing the midway point of his second term in office, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett recently talked with Patch about a range of topics, from the historic Nov. 6 election, to the county's fiscal future, to his own political future. In this fourth excerpt from that interview, Leggett (D) talks about the challenges of managing growth as Montgomery races toward 1.2 million residents over the next two decades. Click here for Part 1 of the interview, in which Leggett discussed the ballot referendum on the Maryland "Dream Act," which allows in-state tuition for certain illegal immigrants. Click here to watch Part 2, on his support for Maryland's historic same-sex marriage law.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Former County Executive Doug Duncan met today with pollster and political advisers, according to CenterMaryland.org.
Will Doug Duncan—Montgomery’s longest-serving county executive—return for a run at an unprecedented fourth term? Duncan's political future came into clearer focus Tuesday after he met with advisers in Gaithersburg to mull the 2014 election, Josh Kurtz writes in CenterMaryland.org. The closed meeting hashed over the results of a new poll “that supposedly showed Duncan handily defeating every other potential Democratic candidate,” according to Kurtz. Speculation has long swirled that Duncan—who served as Montgomery’s executive from 1994 to 2006 before a gubernatorial campaign that ended with him dropping out, citing clinical depression—is primed for a return to county politics. If so, he would be joining a field that already has two …
Fred Foo
10:27 pm on Sunday, March 17, 2013
It's not as simple as you say. It's important to recognize that while good schools attract people, high taxes repel people. And the people who can most easily afford the taxes can also afford to send children to private schools. more ›