County Executive Visits Rockville Chamber of Commerce

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett joked that if he was taken aside and told that the County had just been invaded by locusts in biblical proportions, “I would not be surprised.” It’s been that kind of year after the weather challenges, budget gap, and even an earthquake.

Rockville Chamber of Commerce Board Member, Brian Barkley, introduced Mr. Leggett by recalling The Washington Post line “steady leader skillfully navigates lean times”. During his talk, Mr. Leggett described the tough decisions he has been forced to make.

People ask Ike Leggett why he would even want to be Montgomery County Executive during this difficult economic period. He believes this is the most important time to be helping the public.

Every decision is a crucial one. When there is plenty of money, you can make mistakes. But if I don’t get it right, it could have a profound impact on the future of this County.

This year alone, the County has had to cut $1 billion from the budget and Mr. Leggett emphasized we’re “talking serious business here”. The County’s budget is larger than many states including New Hampshire, Montana, North & South Dakota, and Alaska. He continually asserts that the top three issues in the County are the budget, the budget, and the budget. Back in 2007 when he first said “cut spending now” many thought he wasn’t painting a rosy enough picture but his predictions have come true.

Almost 85% of the budget gap was closed with sacrifices by employees so that the County’s AAA bond rating could be maintained. Montgomery County has had this top bond rating from all three of the big credit rating agencies for almost 40 years, which is the second longest continuous record. Although the County was forced to reduce the reserves from 6% to 5%, he is committed to raising it up to 10% by growing the reserve by a ½% each year. Wall Street was impressed and re-issued the top bond ratings.

Compared to other places, Montgomery County is much better off. People from outside the County incredulously ask “This is your problem?” when they hear about the Seneca Science City controversy. They can’t believe that having Johns Hopkins build in an area designated for development to provide up to 50,000 jobs would even be considered a problem.

Business-wise Mr. Leggett knew the County had to make smart growth decisions. When he first proposed moving County facilities such as the bus depot and fire/rescue training center away from the Shady Grove Metro, people told him it couldn’t be done. But the valuable land was swapped and this development will occur without expense to the County.

When speaking about income taxes, Mr. Leggett explained that 82% of the Maryland State “Millionaire Tax” would have come from Montgomery County. 3% of the wealthiest families contribute 45% of the County’s income taxes. Even though the law never went into effect, the number of taxpayers in the high tax bracket went from 10,000 to 7,300 so “either they died in a hurry or they moved.”

With yesterday’s news from the Maryland Court of Appeals, Mr. Leggett spoke about ambulance fees. The County budget was approved with $14-$15 million per year in ambulance fees. If voters force the County to remove them, the difference will have to be made up with reductions in programs or additional taxes totaling $170 million over ten years. The ambulance fee is used by surrounding jurisdictions so Montgomery County residents are already impacted. If health insurance companies were billed for ambulance services instead of using tax funds, 2/3rds of the amount would be paid by Medicaid or Medicare.

During his comments following the County Executive, Steve Silverman, the Director of the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, described the County’s efforts to keep the U.S. Health and Human Services agency in Rockville as “very aggressive”. Also, the County is competing to attract the corporate headquarters for Choice Hotels. Although competitive, one “huge problem” is the distance to an airport.

Rockville Economic Development Director, Sally Sternbach, also spoke about air travel. Mid-tier companies need to land their corporate jets, so she advises the County to take a good look at infrastructure and talk about the issue.

As the Chamber works to promote businesses in Rockville, Executive Director, Andrea Jolly, concluded the event by inviting both Mr. Leggett and Mr. Silverman to take their wives out during the upcoming Rockville Restaurant Week.

Share and enjoy:

Hide Sites