Residents press Montgomery County on taxes, staffing and budget priorities
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Summary
During public comment residents raised concerns about rising county taxes, new positions and contract costs; commissioners described a 2025 $55 million deficit remediation, last year's 4% levy increase and ongoing efforts toward zero‑based budgeting and staff reviews.
Tax policy and staffing drew sustained public attention during Montgomery County’s Feb. 19 Abington meeting.
Several residents, including David Morgan and others, questioned large contract line items and new positions listed in this meeting’s agenda and urged more transparency and line‑item scrutiny. Morgan cited items on the agenda — including $207,000 for supervision services and about $606,000 for election-system support — and said cumulative tax increases over recent years have strained taxpayers.
Commissioners acknowledged taxes have increased and that making the county financially stable is a major priority. One commissioner outlined that the county faced a roughly $55 million deficit in the prior year that required doing work to reduce the shortfall and noted the board's 2025 tax increase of 4%. "We're on a good path in Montgomery County," the commissioner said, and described ongoing efforts toward zero‑based budgeting, contract review and use of consultants to identify savings and reduce future pressure on the tax rate.
The board approved an updated personnel list and subsequently approved salary‑board items in a short salary‑board session before adjourning; commissioners emphasized that new positions are being reviewed for necessity and budget impact and said staff would continue to respond to resident questions about specific line items and staffing proposals.
