Some Fear Effect Of Bid for Governor
By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 2, 2005
There was laughter from the audience and rolling eyes from some Montgomery County Council members last week when an administrator declared that County Executive Douglas M. Duncan was eager to work with the council on trimming his proposed 2006 budget.
"We're laughing in front of you, and they're laughing behind you," council member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) told assistant county administrator Joseph F. Beach at a hearing on the record $3.6 billion spending plan.
Shaping and passing an annual budget is the council's job. But the reaction to Beach reflects a growing sense among members that they will get no help from Duncan (D).
As he likely prepares to face Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley in next year's Democratic gubernatorial primary, it is becoming clear that the council and the executive are speaking to different audiences.
Duncan has his sights -- and some say the county's checkbook -- set on a statewide primary electorate that supports generous funding of social services, public schools and the arts. The council's nine members, all up for reelection next year, are concerned with signs of popular unrest over rising property tax bills in Montgomery -- especially among the county's sizeable population of registered independents and retirees.
Council members must decide whether to expand county services or respond to rising property assessments by offering broad tax relief.
"Doug clearly misread the sentiment on the council," said council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large), who was elected in 2002 as a Duncan ally.
Evidence of the disconnect was visible last week. As Duncan appeared at a North Bethesda conference Monday to charge that O'Malley's "tepid" support for state funding of embryonic stem cell research was one reason a bill supporting it died in the General Assembly's final hours, the council was slashing a quarter-million dollars from a gang-prevention initiative Duncan has touted frequently.
As Duncan travels the state in his all-but-declared campaign, he often emphasizes that his budget includes additional money for health insurance, police officers and affordable housing.
Supporters say that even if the council scales down his proposed spending, Duncan still benefits politically.
"Doug seems to have been able to ingeniously walk the line as a fiscally prudent Democrat who also supports important programs and needs," said former state delegate Cheryl C. Kagan, a Democratic strategist. "Not many leaders can walk that delicate of a balance."
Duncan enjoys broad support among council members, a majority of whom he helped elect. But the relationship has been strained by the budget, which includes a $12 million shortfall because Montgomery officials overestimated the amount of state aid the county would receive.
In an interview, Duncan said the council's position seems to shift continually when it comes to spending.
"I consulted with the council on this budget, and I laid out in pretty good detail the things I was going to be adding to the budget," said Duncan, who plans to step up his lobbying efforts to the council. "One day they criticize me for spending too much. The next day they are criticizing me for not spending enough."
Since he was first elected in 1994, Duncan and the council have shared essentially the same expansive approach to county government. Spending has increased by nearly 90 percent over the past decade, with the money going to such initiatives as reduced class sizes in schools and the redevelopment of downtown Silver Spring.
Over that period, the council -- which has the power to cut or add to the executive's budget -- always increased Duncan's ambitious spending recommendations.
The council's appetite for spending allowed Duncan to position himself as a fiscal moderate focused on funding education, easing traffic congestion and spurring economic development.
This year, however, the political calculations on both sides have reversed.
"He doesn't appear to be able to say no to anybody . . . so it's up to the council to come up with a responsible budget," said council member Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg).
Council analysts say Duncan's proposed budget, which increases spending by 8.6 percent over fiscal 2005, is the most generous in memory. It includes money for more teachers and police officers, expanded access to health care for the uninsured, increased support for residents who do not speak English and an 80 percent increase in funding for the arts.
Among the 225 new county jobs in the proposal are advisers for higher education and minority business -- posts that critics say are more about burnishing Duncan's credentials with interest groups than meeting the needs of the county.
With property assessments soaring, Duncan wants to cut the property tax rate by 2 cents, which still would leave the owner of a $400,000 house with an increase of $316 on next year's tax bill. The current tax rate is $1.06 per $100 of assessed value.
Duncan's plan would break a voter-imposed tax cap, enacted in 1990, for the fourth consecutive year. The cap limits the county to collecting tax revenue equal to the previous year's total plus inflation and the value of new construction. Duncan proposes to exceed the cap by a record $67 million.
If the charter cap were observed, the owner of the same $400,000 home would see a property tax bill rise by $86.
All the council members have indicated that they regard Duncan's tax rate equation as inadequate. A majority would like to see the budget get close to the cap, with a cut of about 7 cents. That would require the council to slice about $70 million.
Some members are so concerned about not breaking the cap that they are considering an increase in the county's tax on energy consumption, which is excluded from the cap, or dipping into the reserve fund.
It remains to be seen whether the council can stomach the needed reductions, which could mean cutting the $1.7 billion schools budget. Council committees have begun making preliminary cuts , including a decision last week to cut 20 of the 52 new police positions Duncan requested.
"All I know is there are a lot of nice things and good things and valuable things in the budget that I am not willing to pay for at this point," said council member Nancy K. Floreen (D-At Large), who also relied on Duncan's help to be elected in 2002.
Floreen and other council members are responding to what, at least anecdotally, are increasing frustrations among homeowners over their property tax bills.
Anti-tax activists say they might try to put a more restrictive cap on the 2006 ballot, even though nearly 60 percent of voters rejected a similar measure last year.
"I am thinking this year the council needs to be very careful to strike a balance between tax bill concerns and service improvements," said Robert Kendal, county budget director for 16 years, including Duncan's first two terms. "If people are not persuaded of that, they may choose to express themselves at the next election not just in who they vote for but what ballot initiatives they approve."
Similar concern has prompted former council member Isiah Leggett (D), a candidate for county executive, to advocate sticking to the charter limit on taxes. "To me, it's not a risk we should be taking," he said of exceeding the cap. "You jeopardize the current system and endanger the very people we are trying to help."