Committee keeps County Executive’s FY26 public elections fund recommendation; $283,000 catch‑up and $50,000 state contractor ask explained

The Government Operations Committee recommended advancing the County Executive’s FY26 budget recommendation for the Montgomery County Public Elections Fund NDA, retaining level funding of $333,333 and addressing two items included in the executive’s packet: a $283,000 catch‑up appropriation to boost the fund balance ahead of the FY27 election cycle and a one‑time $50,000 contribution to support a Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE) contractor resource center.

Staff explained the $283,000 catch‑up arises from a prior multi‑year plan to bring the public elections fund to a $1,000,000 target. A prior FY24 shortfall and subsequent plan adjustments produced a three‑year approach of $333,333 per year to reach the target by FY27; the March 2025 packet reports a March 2025 balance including interest of about $4.6 million for the broader election fund accounts referenced in the packet.

The $50,000 request responds to the SBE’s new one‑time ask for counties to help subsidize a contractor the SBE hired to manage public financing resource center duties across Maryland counties that use public campaign financing. Staff said the SBE made the request because the resource was deemed necessary to handle increased certification and distribution workloads; if counties do not help subsidize the contractor it could delay candidate certification and distribution processing.

Committee members supported forwarding the executive’s recommendation to full council, citing the upcoming election cycle and the need to avoid processing delays.