Rockville holds second FY2026 budget public hearing; staff proposes $174.9M operating budget, $33.8M CIP and $1M for housing fund

Rockville City Council continued its review of the fiscal 2026 budget Monday, March 17, 2025, with a second public hearing and an initial work session in which staff presented a proposed $174.9 million operating budget, a $33.8 million capital improvement program (CIP) and new, one‑time and ongoing investments including $1,000,000 for a Housing Opportunities Fund.

City Manager Jeff Michalak and finance staff opened the session describing the budget’s major totals and priorities. “The budget really includes a total expenditure of $175,000,000 across 10 funds,” Stacy Webster told the council, noting the document represents a 3.9 percent increase from FY2025 while maintaining the current property tax rate.

Why it matters: the FY2026 proposal would expand capital work across 65 projects, add targeted operating capacity for economic development and permitting, and create a dedicated revenue transfer and reserve allocation to seed a city housing fund meant for preservation and down‑payment or employee home‑ownership assistance.

Key measures presented by staff include: - General fund operating proposal of roughly $116.6 million, driven by higher assessed values and other revenue growth; taxable assessed value rose an average 5.7 percent in the City’s forecasts. - A $33.8 million CIP supporting 65 capital projects,…