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Council approves targeted reductions to TEBS budget after debate over contractor spending
Summary
After debate with department directors over service impacts, the Montgomery County Council approved a motion reducing $400,000 from TEBS contractual support realignment and advanced the TEBS FY27 operating budget as amended, while placing several TEBS items on the reconciliation list.
The Montgomery County Council on May 4 approved a targeted $400,000 reduction to the Technology and Enterprise Business Solutions (TEBS) contractual support realignment after extended debate on service impacts and the department’s remaining flexibility.
Council Member Will Giordano moved the partial reduction, saying it would leave $700,000 for contractual support while finding savings to help close the county’s $152.1 million budget gap. “We were left with an unbalanced budget… I thought it was the responsible thing to do to put forward specific reductions,” Giordano said.
TEBS Director Roper and CAO staff cautioned that the TEBS budget is heavily contractual and that prior department reductions—pursued to meet central guidance—limit additional savings without service impacts. Director Roper said TEBS had already reduced contracted services and warned further cuts would affect subscription services and infrastructure management.
Council members who supported the motion said some reductions proposed by the CAO were marked as having no operational impact; others urged careful, informed negotiation with the CAO and department heads before further reductions. The motion passed after roll‑call.
Council then approved the TEBS FY27 package as amended by the reduction and advanced the reconciliation list items, which included $375,000 for a Community Connect portal study, $144,000 for a cloud backup solution and $170,000 for digital accessibility compliance software.
Next steps: Staff will reflect the amendment in the reconciliation and appropriations materials; councilmembers signaled further reductions may be considered during this week’s budget deliberations.
