Stop the Spend effort submits more than 11,000 signatures in push to get charter amendment in front of voters

County elections officials now begin reviewing submitted petition signatures

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July 22, 2026 11:36 a.m.

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The committee behind the proposed “Stop the Spend” charter amendment submitted more than 11,000 petition signatures to the Board of Elections on Tuesday in an effort to place a measure limiting Montgomery County spending growth on the November ballot.

Mark Lautman, chair of the Committee to Control Montgomery County Spending, told Bethesda Today in a phone interview Wednesday morning that the group spent more than a year gathering 11,300 signatures and views Tuesday’s submission as a major milestone.

“They mean so much because that is a vote of confidence in our campaign to make sure that the rate of increase in our county spending does not exceed the rate of inflation,” he said.

If at least 10,000 signatures are deemed valid by the Board of Elections in the coming weeks, voters will decide whether to amend the county charter to cap annual spending increases at the rate of inflation unless the County Council unanimously votes to exceed the limit.

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County Executive Marc Elrich is expected to respond to the initiative during a virtual media briefing scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. In an advisory announcing the briefing, Elrich’s office said he would react to “a new effort to get an ill-advised budget-limiting measure on the ballot.”

Lautman said the proposal is intended to control the overall growth of county spending rather than dictate how county funds are allocated.

“This does not mandate any cuts,” Lautman said. “No county employee, no teacher, no street, no first responder—nobody is going to be laid off because of this measure. The only constraint is that the rate of increase in spending will not be able to exceed the rate of inflation except by unanimous vote.”

Lautman said support for the initiative has come from residents across the political spectrum. He recalled collecting signatures outside the Shady Grove Metro station when, he said, a self-described liberal voter signed the petition after receiving her property tax bill.

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“A young voter came up to me and asked what this was about,” Lautman said. “She said, ‘I vote to the left of blue, but I just got my property tax bill. So where do I sign your petition?'”

Former committee chair Reardon “Sully” Sullivan told Bethesda Today in a phone interview Wednesday that the signature submission marks an important step toward changing how the county approaches budgeting. Sullivan is the Republican candidate for Montgomery County Council’s District 1 seat. He stopped leading the petition effort to run for office.

“This is the first step toward putting guardrails on spending in Montgomery County,” Sullivan said. “When this bill is enacted, it will actually make Montgomery County much more affordable, making sure that seniors can stay in their homes and making sure that kids who want to buy a house or buy property in Montgomery County will have an easier time doing that.”

Sullivan also argued in a press release that county spending has outpaced improvements in public services.

“Montgomery County families are being asked to pay more year after year,” he said in the release. “While county spending rose over 44% in the past eight years, most residents feel that services have not kept up. This initiative requires county leaders to justify spending increases that exceed inflation.”

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According to Gilberto Zelaya, public information officer for the Montgomery County Board of Elections, the Committee to Control Montgomery County Spending submitted 11,299 signatures on Tuesday. Zelaya said election officials have 20 days to review and verify the petitions. If at least 10,000 signatures are deemed valid, the proposed charter amendment will qualify for the November ballot.

The committee plans to continue collecting signatures and expects to submit another, smaller batch before the July 27 deadline, according to Lautmen. 

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine