Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elections Budget Snap topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Montgomery County officials urge voters to return ballots, warn of SNAP pause and outline budget strains
Summary
County commissioners encouraged voters to return mail ballots ahead of Nov. 4, detailed local election staffing and flagged fiscal pressures from rising employee costs and a possible pause to SNAP benefits tied to the federal shutdown.
Montgomery County commissioners on Oct. 23 urged residents to return mail ballots or make plans to vote in person ahead of Nov. 4 municipal and judicial elections, and warned that county finances face rising costs and uncertainty if federal and state budgets remain unsettled.
The commissioner who opened the meeting said about 50,000 mail ballots remained outstanding and highlighted local election staffing: 428 judges of elections and about 2,412 poll workers, including student volunteers. "There are always a lot of questions about our election process," the commissioner said, noting a public town hall planned to walk residents through security and tabulation procedures.
The commissioner stressed the county’s fiscal position, saying Montgomery County has preserved a strong bond rating—placing it among the top 5% of counties nationwide—but is drawing on reserves and departmental efficiencies to manage rising costs. "Our health care alone for all of our county employees has gone up to the 18% in the last 2 years," the commissioner said, and cited vendor renegotiations that produced near‑term savings: a change in the prescription vendor to CVS Caremark saved about $440,000 this year, bringing certain outside legal services in‑house saved at least $500,000, and moving some aging services back in‑house saved roughly $200,000.
The county has created a new Office of Innovation and Strategic Performance (ISP) to link department performance indicators to budget allocations, the commissioner said, and noted the county’s ongoing efforts to renegotiate contracts and find other efficiencies.
Separately, the county warned of an immediate human impact if federal SNAP benefits are paused because of the federal government shutdown. "If SNAP payments are paused, the local emergency food system will simply not be able to fill the gap," a commissioner said, adding that about 65,000 Montgomery County residents currently rely on SNAP. County leaders said they are coordinating with faith‑based and nonprofit partners and building warehousing capacity to distribute donated food, but said the scale of need would increase if federal benefits stop.
The commissioners said they will present a formal county budget in November and continue to press state legislators for a timely state budget, but emphasized local cost‑management measures in the interim.
