Montgomery County board advertises 1-cent property tax increase after weeks of public push to fully fund schools

Montgomery County supervisors voted 5-2 on March 24 to advertise a 76¢ per $100 real-estate and mobile-home tax rate for fiscal year 2025–26, a 1¢ increase from the current rate. The board held an extended work session and heard roughly two hours of public comment focused on school funding and emergency services before making the decision.

Supporters of higher taxes attended in force at the March 24 meeting, urging the board to advertise a 3¢ increase so the community could more fully consider funding the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) request. Several speakers said modest property-tax increases would prevent cuts to special education, school nurses, free school meals, and staff pay-scale adjustments that MCPS has requested.

“Fully fund the MCPS budget. Ensure that every child in MCPS has access to free breakfast and lunch, stigma free,” said Chris Gaines, a parent and former principal who spoke during public address. Anna Vijayan, another speaker, told the board, “I urge you to advertise a tax rate increase of 3¢ per $100 assessed value.”

Board members debated multiple advertised-rate proposals. A motion to advertise at 78¢ (a 3¢ increase) failed on a roll call. A subsequent attempt at 77¢ also failed. The board ultimately approved advertising 76¢, which the county administration said would provide an incremental increase in revenue while preserving the board’s flexibility before a final tax-rate vote later in the budget calendar.

County Administrator Angie Hill presented updated budget figures during a work session earlier in the evening and said the proposed FY 2025–26 budget was roughly $269.6 million after late-arriving state revenue. Hill told supervisors that public safety budgets have grown in recent years and that a substantial share of county operations rely on undesignated funds, a contrast she said is important when balancing county and school priorities.

Supervisors described the advertised-rate vote as a balance between responding to constituents who pressed for increased school funding and managing county operational needs, including public safety. Several supervisors said they supported increasing the advertised rate to allow public review and additional conversations, while others said the county already had increased school funding in recent years and that MCPS must prioritize within its own budget.

Public commenters used specific figures to make their cases. Derek Rountree estimated that MCPS’s requested increase would require a modest rise in the real-estate tax rate and listed staff and program items that could be cut if the county did not allocate additional revenue. Chris Thomas and others presented arithmetic showing how small increases in the tax rate translate into tangible annual costs for homeowners.

The board followed the advertised-rate vote by formally establishing an advertised FY 2025–26 budget based on the 76¢ rate. Supervisors noted that advertising a higher rate preserves the option to lower or keep the rate the same at a later date; advertising does not itself change taxpayers’ bills until the board adopts a final rate.

The board set the advertised rate by roll-call votes. For the final successful motion to advertise 76¢ the recorded votes were: Mister King (no); Mister Pritjkowski (no); Miss Figgs (aye); Mister Grafsky (aye); Miss Bohn (aye); Mister Kitz (aye); Chair DeMott (aye). Other motions earlier in the evening — to advertise 78¢ and 77¢ — failed on separate recorded roll calls.

What’s next: the county will hold a public hearing April 10 as part of the regular budget calendar. Supervisors and the school board have signaled openness to continued discussions; several speakers asked the board to consider more targeted tax relief for households that would be most harmed by a rate increase.