Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett on Thursday proposed a $70 million chop to the current county budget that includes big reductions in bus service, a $22 million cut for the county’s public schools, and delaying the hiring of new police officers and firefighters.
Leggett’s plan, which must be approved by the County Council, would eliminate 7.5 percent of the county’s Ride On bus service. The plans calls for eliminating nine weekday bus routes and 15 weekend routes. Leggett would abolish 52 bus driver positions.
There also numerous cuts spread across county departments that take 30 pages to detail. They include abolishing a total of 70 county jobs, cuts in street sweeping, reducing the frequency in which county buildings are cleaned, and cutting the budget for new library materials.
The proposal does not detail how $22 million would be trimmed from the schools budget, or how $1.7 million would be cut from Montgomery College’s budget.
Leggett’s plan also calls for eliminating $150,000 for pedestrian safety efforts, which Leggett has promoted as one of his priorities.
The proposed cuts come less than three months after Leggett proposed an initial midyear budget cut of $30 million. November’s income tax revenues came in far lower than projected, forcing the second round of cuts.
Leggett’s second “savings plan” is just a small taste of what’s to come as much larger cuts are expected to help bridge fiscal 2011’s projected $608 million budget deficit.
“We are only in the first step of the process of resolving the FY11 budgetary gap,” Leggett said. “Many more difficult choices remain ahead in confronting these challenges.”
The Examiner first reported last month that Chief Administrative Officer Tim Firestine asked most county department heads to suggest cuts of up to 21 percent for next fiscal year. In a memo, Firestine warned them to assume that “all reductions that are recommended will be implemented.”
Leggett urged the County Council to move quickly to institute the cuts. A public hearing on the bus cuts is scheduled for Feb. 1.
