“As our residents know, a budget reflects priorities, and the budget we are proposing today reflects some very important ones for our County – priorities that have become more challenging to achieve during the COVID-19 pandemic and our ongoing recovery efforts, all while investing in our workers and maintaining our strong financial footing, something critical to attracting jobs and investment to our growing region,” said Dr. Valerie A. Arkoosh, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.
The proposed 2022 budget presents a balanced approach to allow Montgomery County to manage through the next year and beyond. Overall, revenues are estimated at $486.6 million, or seven percent higher than the 2021 budget. Expenditures are estimated at $498.6 million, or eight percent higher than the 2021 budget.
“This proposed budget continues our investments in the core functions of county government,” said Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr., Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. “It reaffirms the County’s commitment to employees past and present by investing in our pension fund and furthers our commitment to fix the county’s aging infrastructure that has been facing deferred maintenance for decades.”
Highlights of the 2022 Proposed Budget and Capital Improvement Plan include:
- $245 million in capital funding to upgrade and improve County-owned roads and bridges, parks, trails, and other facilities.
- Funding to support our County workforce to ensure the timely, efficient delivery of key constituent services and supports including: responding to increased service requests in the County’s Veteran’s Affairs Office and Office of Children and Youth; responding to increased requests of in the Office of Public Safety and Office of Public Health, both key to COVID-19 response and Ida recovery; and supporting online and remote delivery of constituent services due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- $21.7 million to strengthen the County’s pension fund, representing 100 percent of the annual required contribution.
- Ensuring pay equity across County Departments, including realignment in the Office of the Public Defender to ensure parity between that office and the District Attorney’s Office, to support a strong defense for their clients.
This budget builds in controls to plan for uncertain costs related to its COVID-19 recovery and the physical and economic damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ida. The budget also proposes significant investments in the County workforce to respond to the ever-increasing number and complexity of service delivery given the County’s overall population growth.
The County is experiencing decreases in some revenue sources coupled with moderate expenditure growth. In order to support ongoing services for its constituents that benefit their daily lives, and to balance the budget as required by law for county governments, the County is recommending a planned $12 million drawdown of its fund balance and asking homeowners to pay an average of about $49 dollars more per year.
Through a proposed 8 percent increase in the County’s portion of the real estate tax, approximately $17.8 million in new net real estate tax revenue will be generated enabling the county to maintain a stable financial position. Residents earning a fixed or low income may be eligible to enroll in a tax abatement program to minimize the impact of any tax increases on their household finances.
The County’s proposed 2022 Budget and Five-year Capital Improvement Plan are posted online on the County’s finance page at www.montcopa.org/finance and is available for public review in-person at One Montgomery Plaza, 425 Swede Street, Commissioners Office, 8th Floor, Norristown, PA 19401.
For the third year in a row, Montgomery County has leveraged OpenGov’s cloud-based software during its budgeting process. Residents and the public can access key County financial and non-financial data online through its data visualization platform. Current stories feature information about the County Campus Redevelopment Plan, road and bridge projects, and other County investments.
The Commissioners will hold two public hearings on the 2022 Proposed Budget and Capital Improvement Plan on:
Public comments will be accepted by mail, email, virtually at the meeting through Zoom, and in-person in accordance with Center for Disease Control (CDC) social distancing guidelines. The Commissioners will consider the budget for adoption at their regularly scheduled board meeting on December 16, 2021, at 10 a.m.
Individuals can submit comments via email to commissioners@montcopa.org, or mail comments to: Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, P.O. Box 311, Norristown, PA 19404.