Montgomery and Prince George’s councils approve joint FY26 M-NCPPC, WSSC and WSTC budget recommendations

Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart and Prince George’s County Council Chair Edward Burrows led a joint virtual meeting in which both councils approved staff recommendations for several bi‑county budget items, including the Maryland‑National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M‑NCPPC) Central Administrative Services (CAS) FY26 allocations, the WSSC Water budget and capital improvement program (CIP) and proposed rate changes, and the Washington Suburban Transit Commission (WSTC) FY26 amounts.

The joint staff recommendation, presented by Craig Howard, Executive Director of the Montgomery County Council, and Jenkins, Council Administrator for the Prince George’s County Council, asked both councils to concur with the Commission’s FY26 CAS funding and to approve agency‑wide collective bargaining and compensation policies as reflected in the commission’s proposed budget. The recommendation included county‑specific reductions to the CAS allocations and identified compensation amounts included in the commission budget.

Why it matters: the M‑NCPPC CAS budget funds administrative services allocated between the two counties under Section 18‑106 of the Maryland Land Use Article; the councils’ concurrence establishes the by‑county shares used in the commission’s FY26 operating plan. The WSSC recommendation includes rate changes that affect water customers across both counties. The WSTC allocations define each county’s FY26 contribution to transit commission operations.

Key decisions and figures stated in the meeting record: - M‑NCPPC CAS: the joint staff recommendation proposed a reduction of $380,637 to the Prince George’s County portion of CAS and a reduction of $323,084 to the Montgomery County portion. The presentation stated revised FY26 CAS totals of $13,311,779 for Montgomery County and $825,452 for Prince George’s County (as read into the record). - Compensation: the commission’s FY26 budget amount for compensation was stated as $5,800,000 for Montgomery County and $8,300,000 for Prince George’s County; staff recommended supporting the amounts allocated in the commission budget but noted local compensation adjustments should not exceed those amounts in the commission proposal. - WSSC Water: joint staff recommended approval of a 9.5% increase to volumetric and fixed fees and a 2.5% increase in the system development charge, as detailed in attached staff materials. - WSTC: staff recommended approval of the FY26 amounts presented for each county; the record read the Montgomery County amount as $1,607,845 and the Prince George’s County amount as $1,405,345 (figures read into the record from the attachments).

The motion to approve the M‑NCPPC CAS budget adjustments, the WSSC budget and CIP (including the rate recommendations), and the WSTC FY26 amounts was moved by Council Vice President Will Dwanda (Montgomery County Council) and seconded from the Prince George’s County Council. The motion was called, and the chair recorded the action as “unanimously passed by all those present.” No roll‑call of individual yes/no votes was read into the virtual record.

Both council leaders framed the action as a continuation of cross‑county cooperation. Chair Edward Burrows said he “look[s] forward to working with the Montgomery County Council moving forward in a very collaborative manner.” President Stewart thanked Prince George’s members for the partnership, saying, “I just want to take a moment again to thank our friends on the Prince George’s Council for their partnership.”

The meeting concluded with the councils adjourning after the approvals. Attachments and detailed line items referenced in the presentation were noted as available in the meeting materials; the joint staff presentation referenced specific pages for the WSSC recommendation and for the letter approvals from both council leaders.