Modest property tax rate hike back on the table for some MoCo councilmembers
Council rejected proposed 6% increase in straw vote; call for reconsideration follows MCPS superintendent’s letter about potential job cuts
By
Ceoli JacobyMay 12, 2026 7:50 p.m.
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A modest increase to the property tax rate appears to be back on the table for some members of the Montgomery County Council as they seek to balance the county’s budget without forcing Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to eliminate positions.
“The current plan is not one that adequately funds essential services,” Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) said during a meeting at the council office building in Rockville Tuesday afternoon. “The extent of the cuts to the MCPS request that it would require are too great, and that means we need to turn to other options.”
The conversation came hours after MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor sent an email to councilmembers outlining categories of MCPS employees that would be trimmed if the council decides not to move forward with fully funding the district’s budget request.
According to Taylor’s email, some of the first positions that could be cut include instructional specialists, elementary, middle and high school media assistants and social workers, college and career navigators and an associate superintendent.
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“I implore you to consider the gravity of drastic reductions to school services,” he wrote in the email.
The school district’s requested operating budget for fiscal year 2027 is $3.79 billion, representing a $179 million increase over current spending. Of the recommended spending increase, nearly $140 million would be spent on salaries and benefits, including a 3.25% base salary increase for staff.
County Executive Marc Elrich (D) in March put forward a proposed $8 billion county operating budget for fiscal year 2027 that would have fully funded the MCPS budget request with a 6.3-cent property tax rate increase. Fiscal year 2027 begins July 1.
Most on the council were initially critical of Elrich’s operating budget proposal because of its reliance on tax increases and use of reserves to fund ongoing expenses.
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In a May 4 straw vote on Elrich’s proposed property tax rate hike, Mink was the lone member of the council to abstain. The remaining 10 members of the council voted against the proposed increase.
But after pushback from MCPS officials and union leaders, some of those same councilmembers on Tuesday said they would be open to a modest property tax rate increase to fund more of the school district’s budget request.
“To this point, we have not been talking about a property tax increase … because of what is going on in not just our county, but the region and our country,” Councilmember Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) said Tuesday. “But I think we also need to find that right balance. And what we have in front of us right now is not that right balance.”
Stewart floats two-cent increase
According to council staff, every 1-cent increase to the property tax rate would generate about $26.1 million in revenue for the county.
Stewart on Tuesday suggested the council consider a 2-cent increase to the property tax rate, which would generate approximately $52.2 million in additional revenue. By contrast, Elrich’s proposed tax increase would generate approximately $164 million in additional revenue.
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Councilmember Shebra Evans (D-At-large), a former member of the county Board of Education, said she is inclined to support Stewart’s idea.
“I’ve said in several meetings publicly and to my colleagues that I wanted to ensure we could do more for the school system, and this is not adequate,” Evans said. “What we’re left with is just not enough to go as far as I would like to.”
At the recommendation of the Education and Culture Committee, the council is considering reductions to the school system’s requested spending increase in tranches of 10% — amounting to about $17.9 million per tranche.
Council President Natali Fani‑González (D-Dist. 6), who indicated in February she was “completely open” to a dedicated property tax increase to fund MCPS, said Tuesday that she changed her budget approach after hearing feedback from her colleagues.
“There was no appetite for a property tax increase at least by six people, and I think that still remains,” Fani‑González said.
Eight members of the 11-member council must vote to pass the budget. The votes of only six members are needed to increase the property tax rate, but Fani-González has said she would strive to get “as many councilmembers as possible to reach consensus” on the issue.
The council is set to reconvene Wednesday to continue its deliberations on fiscal year 2027 tax rates. The council’s deadline to approve the county’s operating and capital spending plans for fiscal year 2027 is June 1.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine