Mayor And Council Meeting’s About Schools, The Budget, And A Few Other Issues 11/8/10

We always try to keep readers informed about the decisions at the Mayor and Council meetings and this week is no exception!

City Manager’s Report time was turned over to MTA Project Manager, Rick Kiegel about the CCT
People are throwing around the “CCT” acronym but some of the candidates for County Council didn’t even know what it means. It’s the Corridor Cities Transitway for either light rail or rapid bus planned along the I-270 corridor north of Rockville. The CCT route starts at Shady Grove Metro, goes to the Gaithersburg MARC Station, then up I-270 to the Comsat facility though the final alignment has not been decided. Two of the stations would be in the City limits on King Farm Boulevard. Plans for the transitway were in place before King Farm was built. The light rail option would involve warning “honks” at intersections. The CCT study is part of the larger I-270/US 15 Multi-Modal Corridor Study which studies the Corridor all the way past Frederick. These projects involve possible improvements to 30 miles of I-270. If you ever use the I-270 stretch directly north of our City or live in King Farm, you need to pay attention. A public hearing on secondary environmental impact will be held at the Bohrer Park Community Center in Gaithersburg on December 15, 2010 from 4-8 PM.

Recycle!
During the Proclamations, the Mayor and Council proclaimed November 15th as America Recycles Day so let’s make sure we take advantage of Rockville’s extensive recycling program and think about other ways to participate.

Montgomery County Heritage Area
Should Rockville Join the Montgomery County Heritage Area? The Mayor and Council unanimously approved a motion to instruct the staff to explore the City’s participation. No expenses are expected with membership and other jurisdictions such as Poolesville and Brookville are part of the program. The general consensus was that the the investment was sound and would help in our efforts to make Rockville a destination. Councilmember Pierzchala in particular felt it was “Well worth it, in my opinion.” Since minor changes must be made to the Master Plan indicating the goals of the Heritage Area are parallel to the Master Plan, public hearings would be required which, as Councilmember Britton stated, could take five months.

Three Different Documents Concerning the Schools:

Board budget and CIP

The letter to be used as Testimony to the Montgomery County Board of Education (BOE) regarding the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2012 Capital Budget and Amendments to the FY 2011-2016 Capital Improvements Program was discussed. The Council included wording to emphasize the need for Twinbrook Elementary’s addition process to go forward. Councilmember Britton noted all the schools in Rockville are over capacity yet a school like Cold Spring on the City’s border is not. Since 100 students at Beall Elementary have waivers, he wants to understand the reasons why these students have been granted waivers. Mayor Marcuccio wanted language indicating the cottages were taking up space used for recess and the additional load to the school is an impact on the entire operation of the school. Councilmember Gajewski warned against including arguments that are common to the whole system believing that the Council should present a unique argument for Rockville. The letter will be broken down into bulleted talking points for the Mayor and Councilmembers Britton and Pierzchala to use when testifying before the Board of Education next this week.

Changes and discussion to two other letters regarding the schools were also discussed: (1.) Response to Dr. Weast’s Letter about “Relocatable Classrooms” which will ask MCPS to work with City officials about issuing the permits for portables. Dr. Weast’s letter states they will not comply with mandatory referral process but State law requires it. (2.) Another letter was drafted to the Montgomery County State delegation regarding their recent Bill proposed to grant the County government exclusive ability to issue permits so the school board would not need to come through the City process at all.

FY 2012 Budget Preview

Mr. Ullery began the process by commenting that the results of the survey of the Mayor and Council are instructive. The Mayor and Council embarked on a lengthy discussion of the budget principles and provided instruction where disagreement existed. A public hearing on the budget will be held on December 6th. January 10th has been scheduled for the budget decision. Councilmembers commented that they reserve the right to change their survey answers as the process goes forward.

• A 1% increase in employee compensation, which was part of the negotiated agreement for the union, will also automatically go to all the staff which has been the long-standing and sound practice in Rockville. In case you aren’t aware, four major categories of staff include 107 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), 56 Fraternal Order of the Police, 12 Executive Staff, and 325 General Administration staff. Although the Council would like to maintain current Health, Pension and Retired Health Employee Benefits, Mr. Ullery agreed that modifications might be needed.
• A majority of Mayor and Council do not agree that the City provide funding for previously approved programs and services at the current levels. Councilmember Britton would like to review this area. Councilmember Newton commented that she reserves the right to change her answer which was “No Opinion” on the survey. Councilmember Gajewski explained that he “Strongly Disagrees” because it looks like the City is facing fiscal austerity and some programs might need to be changed to go forward, such as under-used recreation programs.
• A majority of the Council were not willing to increase the funding for Caregiver Agencies, even by 1% ($5,000). Councilmember Britton wants to increase funding but not a particular amount. Councilmember Pierzchala and Mayor Marcuccio disagree. Councilmember Newton was “No Opinion”. Councilmember Gajewski believes that many are vulnerable and an increase is justified since the need presented each year has been greater than what the City funded and the need is growing. Mayor Marcuccio wants to look at who the City serves and what they will need, but doesn’t want to make a blanket increase to programs. Councilmember Gajewski disagreed that the City doesn’t look at programs because it does every year. Mayor Marcuccio then admitted that these funds are a drop in the bucket to which Councilmember Gajewski agreed and stated again that the City should do more. Councilmember Britton agrees that the City does go through the program needs on an annual basis and can’t imagine any group coming in without a greater need and it needs to be accommodated. Councilmember Pierzchala might agree when sees how funds come out. Mayor Marcuccio again stated she doesn’t know what people will be requesting. The survey results of 2-2 with one “No Opinion” means nothing would be done, though this could be considered again later in the process. As I chair the Human Services Advisory Commission, this principle is of interest to me, hence the long description.
• The Parking Garage situation is headed for even harder times. The planned FY 2012 budget includes a $1.2 million transfer from the General Fund to the Parking Fund to support the parking enterprise. Councilmember Newton doesn’t want to raise parking garage fees. Councilmember Pierzchala wants to keep the transfer at $1 million and if this means an increase he would support it. Councilmember Britton does not support an increase in rates either. Mr. Ullery made mention of future fund concerns and when Councilmember Gajewski pursued an explanation, an estimate of a $1.7 million loss in 2014 and a $2.4 million loss in 2015 were revealed. A gap between revenue and expenditures has always been expected for the parking garages which were to be a catalyst to build out the entire Town Center and the garages were not intended to be self-supporting.
• On the revenue side, the Council agrees the Property Tax Rates will be maintained at $0.292 for Real Property and $0.805 for Personal Property. However, the $100 Income Tax Offset Property Tax Credit may be removed. Councilmember Gajewski described withdrawing it to be equivalent to a tax increase of $100 per household. He clearly stated he would not raise taxes in this manner to maintain the golf course, if that is what we are raising taxes to support. If that is the reason, he will withdraw his support because he believes taxes should fund increases that are absolutely necessary at this time. The Council also discussed bringing the Redgate Golf Course into the General Fund.

All of these issues will continue to be considered during the budget process. All of our elected officials have indicated the City cannot do everything without raising funds.

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