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Nonprofit leaders urge Montgomery County to raise FY27 contract COLA to 8% to avoid service disruptions
Summary
Multiple nonprofit leaders and coalitions told the Council the executive’s proposed 2.5% inflationary adjustment is insufficient and urged an 8% COLA to prevent staff turnover and program cutbacks across homeless services, food assistance, and youth programming.
Several social‑service and arts organizations used the public hearing to press the County to increase the FY27 inflationary adjustment for nonprofit contracts from the executive’s proposed 2.5% to 8%.
Shannon Babe Thomas (Community Bridges) described rising operating costs — insurance up ~11%, rent up ~5% — and told the Council that without an 8% COLA experienced frontline staff will leave and service capacity will shrink. Jen Schiller (Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless), Amy Javaid (A Wider Circle), Michelle Joseph (Student Global Ambassador Program) and other providers echoed the appeal, saying the request is a survival measure not an expansion.
Speakers warned that a lower adjustment would force nonprofits to reduce services or lose staff and noted additional strains from federal funding cuts and rising administrative demands. Providers asked the Council to protect proposed federal resiliency grants and to adopt clear mechanisms for prioritizing community grants in FY28.
Council staff will evaluate budgetary tradeoffs during committee sessions; speakers asked for a clear funding plan to avoid service interruption.
"An 8% COLA is not an expansion. It is a survival measure for nonprofits," one executive said, framing the request as a workforce retention strategy rather than a program expansion.
