Jeff Taylor presents proposed $477 million Montgomery County school budget with 2% employee COLA
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Summary
At an April 17, 2026 Montgomery County School Board study session, Jeff Taylor presented the proposed FY27 consolidated budget, showing roughly $438.5 million in revenues and just under $477 million in expenditures; it includes a 2% employee COLA, increased technology and utility costs tied to a new school, and a $7.5 million capital request.
At a Montgomery County School Board study session on April 17, 2026, Jeff Taylor presented the proposed FY27 consolidated budget, including a 2% cost-of-living adjustment for employees and a package of operating and capital changes that together bring total expenditures to just under $477 million.
Taylor told the board the COLA would cost about $5,700,000 in total and that step increases were presented at $4,500,000; he also said salary-related benefits tied to those increases were $1,700,000. "For the FY '27 budget, it does include a 2% COLA for employees... That total cost is 5,700,000," Taylor said in his presentation.
He said the district projects total revenues of $438,500,000 and a beginning fund balance of $83,368,000. Taylor described roughly 84% of expenditures as going to salaries and benefits, listing $304,000,098 for salaries and about $98,000,000 for benefits. He highlighted several drivers of increased costs: rising medical insurance (presented as over $5,000,000), technology purchases including laptops (presented as $612,000), additional utility costs tied to bringing Freedom Elementary online (presented as $1,700,000), and other equipment and custodial increases.
On state and formula funding, Taylor identified TISA funding as the district's largest source, stating a figure of $291,000,000 in one slide and later noting a 3.68% increase in TISA from $272,000,000 to "almost $282,000,000". The presentation contained those two different TISA figures as part of the overview.
Taylor also covered specialized funds and programs: federal projects (a projected fund balance of about $3,000,000 that may change after fall carryforwards), the child nutrition fund (projected revenues just under $24.4 million with a beginning balance of $14,354,000 and increases in substitute and food costs), and transportation (expenditures presented just under $29,100,000, with rising costs for driver-related medical services, software and tablet purchases for drivers, and a 25% increase in vehicle insurance premiums).
The presentation included a capital request of approximately $7.5 million for projects at Montgomery Central High and Northeast Middle. Taylor closed the budget overview by noting some savings due to vacancies and that the district is finishing the last year of debt service on computer leases as it moves to purchasing computers outright.
No formal motion or vote was recorded during the study session; Taylor asked the board for questions and the board did not record any immediate action.
The district plans further adjustments in the fall when it updates carryforwards and finalizes amendments; the commission is scheduled to approve a March amendment related to summer school funding in its next meeting, Taylor said.
