County Council to hold public hearings on proposed fiscal year 2027 tax rates

April 20, 2026 6:20 p.m.

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The Montgomery County Council on Tuesday morning will hold separate public hearings on the fiscal year 2027 property and income tax rates proposed by County Executive Marc Elrich (D) as part of his $8 billion county operating budget plan.

Also on Tuesday, the council is expected to vote on the proposed ICE Out Act to ban privately owned immigration detention centers in the county. In the afternoon, the council is scheduled to host a briefing on youth safety that will touch on a number of recent incidents involving younger children and teens in the county.

The council will meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Stella Werner Council Office Building in Rockville for its regular weekly business meeting. Here’s what to expect:

Public hearings on tax rates

Beginning at 9:30 a.m., the council will hold separate public hearings on Elrich’s plan to increase property and income tax rates to fund his proposed $8 billion county operating budget for fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1.

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Under Elrich’s proposal, the county would fully fund Montgomery County Public Schools’ requested operating budget of $3.78 billion for fiscal year 2027 through a dedicated property tax rate increase.

His plan would raise the county’s commercial and residential property tax rate by 6.3 cents — from an average of $1.026 to $1.089 — per $100 of assessed value.

If adopted, the property tax rate increase would generate an additional $164.6 million in revenue for schools in the next fiscal year, according to county budget documents.

Elrich has also proposed increasing the county income tax rate from 3.2% to 3.3%, the maximum allowed under state law.

ICE Out Act vote

Also on Tuesday morning, the council is expected to take a final vote on the proposed ICE Out Act to effectively ban privately owned immigration detention centers in the county.

Under current regulations, an individual or entity seeking to open an immigration detention center would need to acquire both a building permit and a use-and-occupancy permit.

With the proposed ICE Out Act, the Department of Permitting Services would be prohibited from issuing either permit to a private party seeking to operate an immigration detention facility in the county. ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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The lead sponsor of the bill is Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large). Because all 10 of Glass’ council colleagues are co-sponsoring the bill, Tuesday’s vote is mostly a formality.

The council’s Economic Development Committee voted unanimously April 10 to recommend the full council pass the ICE Out Act as introduced. In his weekly newsletter on Friday, Elrich said he supports and will sign the bill upon passage. It would take effect immediately.

Glass is one of three sitting councilmembers seeking the Democratic nomination for county executive in the June 23 primary election. The others are Will Jawando (D-At-large) and Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1). There are also two other Democrats and two other Republicans in the race.

Youth safety briefing

Starting at approximately 1:40 p.m., the council is scheduled to hold a briefing on youth safety in the aftermath of several high-profile incidents involving children and teens.

Among those expected to participate in the briefing are MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor; Assistant Chief David McBain of the Montgomery County Department of Police; and Lori Garibay-Aquino, chief of Children, Youth, and Family Services within the county Department of Health and Human Services.

During the briefing, officials are expected to cover topics including the February shooting at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, a recent “youth takeover” that was planned at the Rio Lakefront in Gaithersburg, and “ongoing violence” after school at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, according to the meeting agenda. The agenda did not describe the latter two items in detail.

Officials are also expected to discuss existing county programs for violence prevention and youth safety, including various summer camps and the Community Engagement Officer program involving MCPS and local law enforcement agencies.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine