Why does the County Council have such bad budget options?
And who’s really in charge of the MCPS budget?
When I started following MCPS politics, I assumed that the Board of Education was in charge. As I talked to people deep in these weeds, they told me that the County Council is in charge. Some mentioned the agenda-setting power of the County Executive, who recommends the County’s operating budget to the Council. About half the County budget goes to MCPS.
While MCPS needs the County Council to approve their budget, that approval comes at the end of a long process the Council doesn’t control. Most of the MCPS budget is determined by collective bargaining and the staffing model — two processes in which the County Executive and Council have no say. Now the Council risks being called anti-teacher, anti-union, and anti-kid if they vote against the budget those processes produced. But voting for the fully requested MCPS budget would mean raising taxes, and elections are June 23. Three Council members are running for County Executive, and five others are defending their seats.
For more background, including explanation of the table below, see my earlier posts on who does what in MoCo education and how the operating budget process works.
Why is most of the budget not discussed in the budget process?
Nearly nine of every ten dollars in the MCPS operating budget goes to spending on staff salaries and benefits. The district’s staffing model determines the amount of staffing, by type of position, based on enrollment. Staff salaries and benefits are determined in collective bargaining, which is totally separate from the budget process. The whole discussion, as framed by MCPS staff, takes prices and quantities of staff, and therefore the vast majority of the operating budget, as fixed.
Much of the extensive public engagement in the Board of Education’s budget process is then about the sliver of the budget that is independent of the staffing model and contract terms because, as Dr. Taylor repeatedly emphasized, most of the budget is “required non-discretionary spending.” This logic leans heavily on short-run thinking, to view the prices and quantities as outside of MCPS’s immediate discretion. This was a particularly tough assumption to swallow this year, as MCPS changed the staffing model during the operating budget process. (Due to falling enrollment, they still requested fewer staff positions than this year, but the decline in requested staffing was smaller than it would have been due to the more generous new staffing model.)
In practice, the majority of the increase in MCPS’s requested budget is due to previously promised compensation increases. The County Council’s staff report finds the MCPS requested budget is based on pay increases for MCPS employees ranging from 3.25 to 8.75%, totaling $133.8 million of the $192.3 million requested increase. MCPS appoints the lead negotiator in collective bargaining and the Board votes to approve the contract without knowing how much the County Council ultimately will appropriate to fund it. Years ago, the Board of Education promised particular salaries and benefits – the current MCEA contract covers 2023-2027 – so it’s no surprise that they’re now asking the Council for the money to pay for them.
Is the County Council absolved?
The County Council didn’t have a say in setting compensation levels for MCPS employees, and they’re the ones who now must balance the anti-school/tax hike optics. It feels kind of unfair. But this is a repeated game.
Legally and politically, it’s extremely hard for the County to do anything other than keep increasing the MCPS budget, even as enrollment falls. While the $192 million incremental increase in this year’s ask is due mainly to negotiated compensation increases, the overall ask of $3.8 billion is the accumulation of years of budgets that the County has approved. (To be clear: MCPS needs a large budget to run schools for 155,000 students. But practically speaking, the total spending in any given year is based primarily on last year’s budget and the contracts.)
The County’s short-term incentive, unfortunately, is to go look for money under the couch cushions—like in forgone contributions to retiree benefits funds—to minimize the political pain. But this is not a long-term plan, and makes next year’s process worse. Plus, the MCEA contract is almost up. Will the County Council’s choices on budget now affect what gets negotiated in the next contract?
Pop quiz
True/false/uncertain, explain: The County Council now faces a bunch of budget options they hate because they have no say over MCPS collective bargaining, policy, or personnel.
Credit depends entirely on explanation.
Answer key
Full credit is possible beginning with true, false, or uncertain.
It’s true that the County Council has no say over MCPS collective bargaining, policy, or personnel. However, had they spent less on MCPS in prior budgets, they would have had a lower starting point in this cycle.
Extra credit
Read the staff report to County Council on County Executive Marc Elrich’s FY2027 Operating Budget, which highlights the likelihood of a structural deficit by FY2028 and estimates the property tax impacts below.
Check out highlights below from the April 26 County Executive candidate forum at the Leland Center in Chevy Chase, moderated by Lyric Winik. Candidates mostly stuck to their education talking points (as summarized at a prior forum). Winik structured the forum around questions submitted in advance by residents. Watch candidates weigh on education questions.
Question on progressivism and county government structure.
Question on BOE supervision of MCPS and its spending, and what the oversight role of the county executive should be.
Lightning rounds: candidates each have a card with only two sides, yes or no, and a single “pass” per round. Sometimes candidates held the yes/no card sideways. But no one was allowed to speak and explain their “it depends” reasoning.
“Is the MCPS budget too big? Yes or no.” [Yes: Bannerjee, Friedson, James; No: Glass, Jawando]
“Do you support putting police school resource officers in county high schools if the principal wants and requests an SRO?” ” [Yes: Bannerjee, Friedson, Glass; No: James, Jawando]
Follow Adam Pagnucco at Montgomery Perspective for real-time updates on the County operating budget.
Exit ticket
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