Montgomery County Is Broke, And Democrats Still Want the Checkbook

Montgomery County isn’t technically bankrupt. Not yet. But financially? It’s wheezing like a Peloton newbie on resistance level three. And the reason is simple: the people running the county act like every day is Cyber Monday, and they’ve memorized their parents’ credit card numbers.

Let’s start with the teachers union, otherwise known as the MCEA, the most powerful political force in Montgomery County outside of whoever’s running the speed camera racket. The County Council approved eye-popping 7–12% raises for MCPS employees, knowing full well that the school system already eats almost $3.3 billion a year. Salaries and benefits are about 90% of that. And guess what? When you dramatically increase personnel costs, the bill doesn’t go away next year. It grows. Permanently.

County analysts basically flashed a giant warning sign that says:
“This is not sustainable unless you raise taxes.”
But Democrats pretended not to hear it probably because the MCEA was already endorsing them before the ink dried.

Then there’s Montgomery County’s favorite political hobby: publicly financed campaigns, a system that’s gone from “reform” to “ATM for politicians.” We’re talking more than $16 million blown on the 2022 and 2024 cycles, with projections of up to $30 million for 2026. And the best part? Candidates who lose still get paid. Some form fake committees, act outraged about democracy, and walk away with taxpayer-funded consolation prizes. If Republicans ever proposed a system this irresponsible, Democrats would call it corruption. But when Democrats do it? It’s “restoring trust.”

Sure it is. If this is trust, I’d hate to see fraud.

But wait, the county wasn’t done lighting money on fire. It also passed one of the most aggressive rent control schemes on the East Coast a bill so economically illiterate it makes New York’s rent laws look reasonable. And the result was exactly what every economist everywhere predicted: developers slammed the brakes, multifamily housing starts tanked, and investors rerouted their money to wait for it in Northern Virginia, where the business climate hasn’t been turned into a graduate seminar on Marxist urban planning.

Fewer housing starts mean fewer future taxpayers. Fewer taxpayers mean less future revenue. Less future revenue means… yep, another budget hole. Democrats created the shortage and then passed rent control to “fix” the shortage they created. This is the legislative version of lighting the kitchen on fire and congratulating yourself for buying a smoke alarm.

And while the county pleads poverty, it found tens of millions to spend on services for illegal immigrants: free legal representation, “Welcome Centers,” housing programs, translation services, and nonprofit contracts that somehow always seem to expand. You know what doesn’t expand? Paved roads. Classroom performance. Police staffing. But services for illegal immigrants? Unlimited refills.

In total, immigrant-related spending is estimated at $28 million across departments. Meanwhile, MCPS test scores are sinking faster than Biden’s polling, crime is rising, and residents stare at property tax bills like they’re ransom notes.

All of this would be bad enough if Montgomery County had a growing population and a booming tax base. But it doesn’t. The county has been losing residents every single year since 2020. High-income earners? Heading to Frederick, Howard, or Florida. Businesses? Choosing Loudoun or Fairfax, because those counties don’t punish companies for existing. The tax base is shrinking, spending is expanding, and the county’s solution is, you guessed it, to keep spending.

That’s why MoCo is now using one-time funds to cover recurring expenses. In personal finance terms, that’s like paying your mortgage with your AmEx. It works for a month. Then the crisis hits.

Democrats insist there’s no crisis, of course. There never is    at least not until they need to justify another tax hike. But anyone who reads the county’s fiscal reports knows the truth: Montgomery County doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a Democrat problem.

Republicans warned about this for years. They said rent control would kill development. They said public financing would spiral out of control. They said MCPS payroll growth would trigger structural deficits. They said the county couldn’t become the East Coast capital of social services while losing taxpayers.

They were mocked as alarmists.
Turns out they were realists.

So yes, Montgomery County is on the verge of a full-blown budget crisis    not because of bad luck, but because its leaders spent money like it came from a magic ATM. It didn’t. It came from residents. And those residents are running out of patience… and running out of the county.

If Montgomery County wants to avoid a fiscal meltdown, it doesn’t need new taxes, new agencies, or new slogans.
It needs new leadership.

Preferably, leadership that knows the difference between a budget and a wish list.

---

Endnotes

1. Montgomery County Public Schools, FY2025 Operating Budget Summary, MCPS Office of Finance (Rockville, MD: 2024), 3–5.
2. Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight, Report on Budget Sustainability, OLO Report No. 2024-6 (Rockville, MD: 2024), 12–14.
3. Montgomery County Government, Collective Bargaining Agreement Between Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Education Association, FY2024–2026 (Rockville, MD: 2023).
4. Adam Pagnucco, “MCEA Negotiated Raises Will Drive Long-Term Budget Pressure,” Montgomery Perspective, April 17, 2024.
5. Montgomery County Department of Finance, Public Election Fund Report, FY2024 (Rockville, MD: 2024), 1–4.
6. Editorial Board, “Montgomery County’s Costly Public Campaign Finance System Needs Oversight,” Washington Post, June 11, 2024.
7. Montgomery County Council, Public Election Fund Appropriations, FY2022–2026, Legislative Tracking System (Rockville, MD: 2024).
8. Montgomery County Council, Rent Stabilization Act of 2023 (Bill 15-23) legislative fiscal note, June 2023.
9. Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors (GCAAR), Economic Impact of Rent Stabilization in Montgomery County, Policy Brief (Bethesda, MD: 2024), 2–7.
10. Montgomery County Planning Board, Housing Production Trends 2020–2024, Planning Department Analysis (Silver Spring, MD: 2024).
11. Montgomery County Government, FY2025 Operating Budget: Department of Health and Human Services, Immigrant & Refugee Services Section (Rockville, MD: 2024).
12. Montgomery County Council Office, “Budget Allocation for Legal Representation for Immigrants,” Committee Briefing Memo, March 21, 2024.
13. Montgomery County Government, Nonprofit Contracting and Immigrant Support Programs, Budget Appendix F, FY2025 (Rockville, MD: 2024).
14. U.S. Census Bureau, County Population Estimates: 2020–2024, American Community Survey (Washington, DC: 2025).
15. Maryland Department of Commerce, Maryland Business Migration Patterns, 2023 Annual Report (Baltimore, MD: 2024).
16. Montgomery County Department of Finance, FY2024 Fiscal Plan Highlights, Office of Management and Budget (Rockville, MD: 2024), 9–11.
17. Adam Pagnucco, “Montgomery County’s Structural Deficit Is Growing,” Montgomery Perspective, March 12, 2024.
18. Montgomery County Office of Legislative Oversight, Long-Range Fiscal Sustainability Analysis, OLO Report No. 2023-10 (Rockville, MD: 2023).
19. Montgomery County Council Meeting Transcript, “FY25 Budget Deliberations and Use of One-Time Funds,” Session of May 9, 2024.

---

Jacob Silver is a contributor for Direct Line News. He can be reached at Jacob.Silver@mcgopclub.com

About The Author