News & Opinions

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Flush with Revenue, Drunk on Spending

Montgomery County is not broke. It is broken — broken by political will.

Since Fall 2023, a state-authorized property tax rate hike and back-to-back SDAT reassessment cycles have flooded the County with record revenues. Income tax collections surged. Property tax collections climbed without another rate increase. A $260 million windfall arrived in November 2025 alone. Yet County officials stood before cameras and declared a “structural deficit” — then proceeded to propose an $8.02 billion budget, a 26% spending increase in four years, and a progressive income tax hike they called a “restructuring.”

This report documents what the money bought — and what it did not. Residents are paying 29% more in property taxes than four years ago. Their streets are not safer. Their schools are not dramatically better. What did grow: county union paychecks at 6.5%+ effective raises per year while federal employees received 1.0%; non-competitive grants to political advocacy organizations that campaign for the same incumbents who write them checks; and a spending trajectory that the County’s own Revenue Estimating Group warns is unsustainable by $854 million over six years.

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165 Does Not Equal 8 | Montgomery Perspective | Adam Pagnucco | April 22, 2026

County executive candidates lay out vision for East County at White Oak forum | Bethesda Today | Elia Griffin | April 21, 2026, 6:10 pm Updated April 23, 2026 3:20 pm