Action Alerts

On Thursday, March 15, County Executive Ike Leggett released his proposed FY19 Operating Budget. Here is the full budget document. The County Executive’s Grants List begins on page 677 of the document.

Additionally, you can explore the budget through the Open Budget website, which allows for in-depth exploration of budget areas.

Opportunities for Advocacy:
The budget did not include contract adjustments or inflationary increases for nonprofit contracts. Past policy decisions made by the County Council and Executive, such as minimum wage increases, background check requirements, and cybersecurity insurance requirements for county contracts, raise costs of doing business. Additionally, costs rise each year due to inflation. Flat funding for nonprofit contracts across County departments means that providers are faced with the difficult choice of cutting essential services or searching for additional funding through limited outside sources to continue providing the same level of service.

Nonprofit Montgomery advocates for increases to County contracts to address these needs, in all departments that contract with nonprofit providers.

Starting in April, the Council is holding a series of public hearings about the budget. Sign up to testify about the impact of the County budget on your organization at one of the Operating Budget public hearings: 

April 10, 7pm
April 11, 1:30pm and 7pm
April 12, 1:30 and 7pm

Stay up to date on the Council’s progress on the FY18 Savings Plan and their preparation for the FY19 Operating Budget.

Here is the video from the January 16 Council discussion about the factors driving the cost of government, including revenue pressures, the impact of fiscal policy choices, and costs both inside and outside of the County’s control. The factors affecting these costs in the County include demographic trends, historical growth patterns, existing financial obligations, and budget choices. This discussion will provide context for the Council’s review of the Fiscal Year 2018 Savings Plan. This staff report provides important background.

Tomorrow, January 18, the following Council Committees will discuss the County Executive’s FY18 Savings Plan.

Government Operations & Fiscal Policy, 9:30am (streaming live)
FY18 Budget Savings Plan

Health & Human Services, 9:30am
FY18 Budget Savings Plan

From time to time we alert you to advocacy efforts that may affect your nonprofit and the people you serve. As an alliance of nonprofits that represents a broad sector of interests and needs, we will not take a stand on legislation and advocacy efforts without support of our board and members. However, we encourage all of our members to decide for themselves if this is something they would support.

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