Click the above image to see Councilmember Friedson's comments on the FY22 Operating Budget & FY21-26 Capital Improvements Program.
Today, the Council formally approved the County's operating and capital budgets for next fiscal year. We're addressing critical needs in our community, many exacerbated by the pandemic and the ongoing impacts of an unprecedented year. I'm proud to have advocated for and supported additions to this budget to social safety net services, developmental disability service providers, and emergency mental health interventions and care. The budget also fully funds our school system in an absolutely pivotal moment, as we're confronted with increased disparities and the social-emotional impact of this school year. I'm fully committed to working with the Board of Education and MCPS for a full return to in-person instruction.
Importantly, the budget we approved holds the line on property taxes as many continue to face financial difficulty and uncertainty. It does so with an improved property tax structure we proposed last fall and that voters overwhelmingly supported on their ballots so we can take full advantage of economic growth without raising tax rates. Despite an extremely tight capital budget, we were able to accelerate and restore key school projects including the new Woodward High School and transportation infrastructure such as the Capital Crescent Trail Tunnel, Rockville Pike Bus Rapid Transit System, and the North Bethesda Transitway.
Despite all of the good in the approved budgets, I've made clear how concerned I am about the County's longer-term fiscal standing. Unfortunately, the County Executive presented a recommended budget to the Council that wasn't structurally sound. While the budget we approved with many adjustments meets a number of the needs we face today, its reliance on hundreds of millions of dollars in one-time federal relief funds will create increasingly difficult decisions for the Council in the future.
It'll be more imperative than ever that we implement the fiscal policies already in place and continue to reform our budget processes to address the fiscal sustainability of County Government. Without it, it'll become increasingly difficult to fund the services urgently needed by many in our community and to meet our quality of life, racial equity, environmental, and economic development goals. That work has already started with approval of my bill to create a Revenue Estimating Group, a best practice employed by the State to help the County more accurately project revenues and build consensus leading up to the traditional budget process.
Consistent with the County's vaccine-driven approach announced last month, all County COVID restrictions will be rescinded effective 6 a.m. tomorrow as we surpass the mark of 50 percent of County residents who are fully vaccinated. CDC and Maryland Department of Health mask guidance will remain in effect.
This is an important milestone thanks to so many who have gotten vaccinated and worked to protect themselves, their family, friends and co-workers. But we have more work to do and more people to get vaccinated, even as key COVID indicators continue to remain at some of the lowest levels in the country when compared to other jurisdictions of our size.
It has never been easier to get vaccinated, and some locations no longer require an appointment to be made in advance. Sign up now through the County or the State and please offer this information to all eligible individuals (anyone age 12 or older) in your networks. If you're in need of extra motivation, the State announced that it'll do daily drawings every day through July 3 in which one lucky vaccinated Marylander will win a $40,000 prize.
The Bethesda Streetery on Norfolk Avenue during a recent evening.
One of the silver – perhaps even platinum – linings of the COVID pandemic was the near-seamless creation of outdoor dining, recreation, walking, and biking areas in roadways to allow for safe, outdoor activity at a time when social distance was paramount. These "Open Streets" included a variety of agencies and organizations implementing important and popular examples of what happens when we use these roads to promote the vibrancy of our communities and support local businesses. The Bethesda Streetery, pictured above, was set up by the Bethesda Urban Partnership and is a terrific display of what can happen when we give public spaces to the public.
I'm proud to have drafted and initiated a Council resolution, supported by all of my colleagues, that conveys our strong support for continuing the successful Open Streets concepts beyond the end of this public health crisis.
As our COVID numbers continue to decline and we begin to return to some semblance of normal, we should also take this community-building success inspired by the pandemic and work to make Open Streets part of our new normal.
White Flint Metro Station.
This week, County Executive Elrich formally requested WMATA change the name of the White Flint Metro Station to North Bethesda Metro Station, an effort we worked hard to forge community consensus on over the past three years.
I'm well aware of the natural skepticism around any proposed name change for this area. However, it's important to understand how crucial the Metro station is to the viability of the Pike District and North Bethesda – and our community's long-held vision for a vibrant, walkable, and livable place. We must have a Metro station that reflects that vision by helping our economic development, regional competitiveness, and placemaking efforts.
We hosted community stakeholder meetings over the past three years, including with the Friends of White Flint community group in March that revealed an undeniable consensus that this area and its Metro station lacked identity. That holds back our ability to market this place to residents and businesses, which in turn makes it more difficult for the County to make the required infrastructure investments needed to transform the area from a traffic-clogged set of strip shopping centers to a dynamic mix of housing, shopping, offices, parks, and civic space.
It's also important that the County made the name change request now as WMATA prepares to adjust its entire Metrorail system map with other pending changes throughout the region and to take advantage of $250,000 in State support. Thank you to our State Delegation.
The recent wave of antisemitic attacks and bias incidents against Jews has impacted and understandably shaken many in our community. The Council made clear in a statement this week that all Jewish Montgomery County residents have the right to live their lives free from fear and that we'll continue to work to protect against antisemitic activity or behavior.
This includes concrete steps to help ethnic and religious institutions, including Jewish institutions that are so important to our County, make security upgrades with $700,000 in grants the Council approved today as part of next fiscal year's budget.
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