Anonymous wrote:Cut their salaries. Increase their health care costs. Reform pensions.

Enough is enough. The entire DMV economy is going through a recession. They can't keep bleeding taxpayers to enrich themselves. Taxpayers are not cash cows with unlimited money they can bleed dry. They're lucky they simply have a job.

MCPS employees are not "enriching themselves" but compensation costs are too high given the stagnant tax base. If tax revenues crater due to DOGE things will get really bad fast and the more they increase spending now, the fewer options we will have in the future

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another one??

He already did 8.7% a few years ago. Then tried for another big one- that the council cut in half last yr.

Couple that with everyone's property taxes going way up anyway because of assessments.

Good Lord, Elrich.

For once stand up to MCPS (who just asked for an absolutely staggering budget)

IK,R
so many people in MoCo are stupid about local politics. A few peeps I've talked to had already forgotten we just had had one increase. But it's good for local gov to keep the locals stupid.

30 years ago we moved to MoCo as the schools were worth the extra expense, but that is no longer the case. Our schools are no longer the best in the state. we basically have a few good schools and the rest are no diff than PG Co. Any extra school budget isn't going to save them as the only new education ideas MCPS has implemented are social justice related and not learn math/reading related.

Absolute BS

Maga entering a chat with stupidity and no facts.

Congratulations your racism is showing. Put your kids in a religious private .

Anonymous wrote:Please DOGE MoCo and MCPS especially. So much wasted money at MCPS while outcomes keep declining.

How about no..

How about stop sucking and be business friendly? Look at MoCo now....so much trouble because it relies so much on the goobermint for jobs.

Show us where doge has saved one dollar?

You can’t.

Stop with the cult of stupidity

Cut their salaries. Increase their health care costs. Reform pensions.

Enough is enough. The entire DMV economy is going through a recession. They can't keep bleeding taxpayers to enrich themselves. Taxpayers are not cash cows with unlimited money they can bleed dry. They're lucky they simply have a job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another one??

He already did 8.7% a few years ago. Then tried for another big one- that the council cut in half last yr.

Couple that with everyone's property taxes going way up anyway because of assessments.

Good Lord, Elrich.

For once stand up to MCPS (who just asked for an absolutely staggering budget)

IK,R
so many people in MoCo are stupid about local politics. A few peeps I've talked to had already forgotten we just had had one increase. But it's good for local gov to keep the locals stupid.

30 years ago we moved to MoCo as the schools were worth the extra expense, but that is no longer the case. Our schools are no longer the best in the state. we basically have a few good schools and the rest are no diff than PG Co. Any extra school budget isn't going to save them as the only new education ideas MCPS has implemented are social justice related and not learn math/reading related.

To be fair to MCPS they did just implement a new reading curriculum that seems widely respected and is focused on phonics.

The reality is that that not a lot of money is spent on "social justice". They do receive funding from the federal government and the state for low income, EML and special education students and there is a lot of spending on those groups specifically. That's pretty necessary and also legally required.

The budget problems relate to compensation, which you probably won't admit is a tougher subject politically than social justice. They are proposing that MCPS staff get 6%+ raises (if they are eligible for steps). They have no plans to increase the percentage of healthcare premiums paid for by employees (which is very low right now) or reform the unaffordable pension plans. Compensation (salaries and benefits) is eating up a larger and larger percentage of the budget each year. That is why class sizes go up and teachers lack basic materials like paper unless you massively increase the budget which requires constant tax increases. Is there fat to trim? Sure, but not nearly enough to address the structural budget issues that are by and large related to compensation costs.

Anonymous wrote:Another one??

He already did 8.7% a few years ago. Then tried for another big one- that the council cut in half last yr.

Couple that with everyone's property taxes going way up anyway because of assessments.

Good Lord, Elrich.

For once stand up to MCPS (who just asked for an absolutely staggering budget)

IK,R
so many people in MoCo are stupid about local politics. A few peeps I've talked to had already forgotten we just had had one increase. But it's good for local gov to keep the locals stupid.

30 years ago we moved to MoCo as the schools were worth the extra expense, but that is no longer the case. Our schools are no longer the best in the state. we basically have a few good schools and the rest are no diff than PG Co. Any extra school budget isn't going to save them as the only new education ideas MCPS has implemented are social justice related and not learn math/reading related.

Anonymous wrote:So tone deaf. mcps and the county need a DOGE. We have so many useless contracts and consultants we are paying for. Cut those. My husband is a government contractor. My company is doing rounds of layoffs and it is likely I will be unemployed in a few months. Not to mention the property tax increase that is assuming a value that isn’t a true. I am terrified for my family. If we both lose our jobs, what do we do? The market is getting more and more flooded. And yes, we are actively looking but hard to find a job when you are in your 50s.Wasn’t the casino revenue supposed to go to schools in the state?
Elrich: cut costs. Don’t raise taxes.

Elrich should be cutting the tax rate, to alleviate the rise in assessments.

DCUM, I have a question: if values for our houses go down in the next two years, because of the Trump disaster, and a mass exodus of the area, are our houses reassessed for lower prior to 2028?

Anonymous wrote:Yeah tax all the feds about to lose their jobs. Sorry teachers and cops, pay raises for you while everyone around you paying your salaries is unemployed. Eat crow.

Grab that cash before it's gone.

Anonymous wrote:If MCPS had better reputation and standing with community AND if Elrich hadn't JUST raised property taxes 2 years ago, the case they're making would be more palatable. But since that's not the case, I don't understand why they think anyone is going to be up for it.

Elrich’s problem is that the last tax increase didn’t really go to education. I hope that someone challenges the “loophole” that they’re using to raise property taxes without a unanimous vote because the law doesn’t say what they claim it does. (It doesn’t make sense for me to challenge it because I’d still come out behind even after winning)

If MCPS had better reputation and standing with community AND if Elrich hadn't JUST raised property taxes 2 years ago, the case they're making would be more palatable. But since that's not the case, I don't understand why they think anyone is going to be up for it.

^No pay raises for you*

Yeah tax all the feds about to lose their jobs. Sorry teachers and cops, pay raises for you while everyone around you paying your salaries is unemployed. Eat crow.

Anonymous wrote:Deeply stupid and tone deaf to not only increase taxes but to lock in a huge increase in MCPS budget (due to maintenance of effort) while county residents are losing their jobs left and right.

Elrich is thinking of himself, getting the teachers' union endorsement for when he runs for Evan Glass' at-large council seat.

"Elrich’s budget allocates $312.8 million to support affordable housing-related programs and funds, including $25.4 million for rental assistance. He also is proposing a $13 million increase to the county’s homelessness services funding."

I guess he does not understand that after adding on more property taxes on top of the ones he has already raised that this will eventually lead to more homelessness, as elders will no longer be able to afford the homes they have lived in for 30+ years.

Anonymous wrote:Btw, this budget includes money for a 3-5% general wage adjustment (police get the most, but at least 3% for everybody) as well as 3.5% step increases for eligible employees in the county government. Similar for MCPS employees. Totally unaffordable. In six months there will have to be furloughs and RIFs.

Friedson will vote for the wage increases and the other increases (in addition to the out of cycle spending he’s proposed) but he will vote against the tax increase. This is what he’s done before. It’s a pretty cowardly way to legislate.