the Commissioners unveil the proposed 2013 Montgomery County General Fund Budgetour Today, first budget.

took the Commissioners and our senior staff, led by CFO, Uri Monson, eleven months to put this It
together. This has been a collaborative process and I want to thank the department heads, the row officers and the courts for their willingness to be a part of the solution. I cant say enough about our staff who have thought outside the box and played an honest game of chess, instead of cheating at checkers.

Remarks by Commissioner Josh Shapiro Proposed 2013 Montgomery County General Fund Budget November 15, 2012

is a zero based budget that was built up from zero by focusing on the core functions of government This as opposed to simply modifying the budget from the year before, as has been past practice. is an honest budget. It is a transparent budget. It 2013 budget primarily reflects the need to repair errors of commission and omission by prior The
administrations as well as absorbing state cuts to human services and continuing to grapple with the effects of the national recession.

is well-documented at this point, but it is worth repeating that when we took office on January 3, we It inherited a mess: A $10 million budget shortfall that necessitated immediate cuts. County government buildings that were crumbling and will take at least $50 million to fix. An emergency radio system that will require at least $45 million to upgrade. The need to borrow money our first month in office just to make the initial payrolls and pay expenses. the operatingon and on. And list recite thesegoes because they affect the budget that we release today and limit our choices going I facts forward. the problems that were left to us required both an ability to manage short-term problems and a Solving willingness to make the tough choices to set us on the path for a better future. leader wants to make tough, unpopular choices, but we refuse to punt and leave it to someone else, as No
has been the past practice. If we fail to make these choices today we will not be able to meet the Countys obligation to our constituents.

have redefined how our county government works and made it more effective and efficient. We example, we tore up the old procurement policy that was panned by the Grand Jury, led to higher For
costs for taxpayers, minimal competition for county work and an atmosphere where only certain connected firms could play. In its place we have an open procurement process that has leveled the playing field and lowered prices for the taxpayers.

We reset our grant process to eliminate spending without a clear purpose and centralized the system to ensure integrity in the process.

new policies alone have not been enough to dig us out of the hole. But Unfortunately, we have had to layoff or furlough many dedicated members of our county family. Each
loss hurt us personally, but these were moves that efficiency and economics demanded. It upsets me to think about these layoffs in the context of how they impact individual families of our employees. But we recognize that this was a necessary part of meeting our obligation to clean up a mess and govern a county that needed serious reform. We each take that responsibility seriously and never lightly.

a moment Uri will go through the specifics of the proposed budget and following a vote by the In

Commissioners it will be posted online for the public to review. On November 29, we will hold two special meetings for the public to offer comment followed by final consideration on December 6.

me highlight seven key points in the 2013 budget Let this budget is balanced without using any gimmicks. It eliminates waste, duplication and the fiscal First, malpractice that allowed for undercounting and overestimating. Leslie and I made a commitment during the campaign not to raise taxes this year and this budget Second, assumes no tax increase. Commissioner Castor has rightfully complained that the County did not make a payment to the Third, pension fund for the past four years. This budget makes a significant contribution to the pension fund. past budgets were often balanced on the backs of county employees. By contrast, this budget Fourth,
actually invests more in our county employees by improving their health benefits at no additional cost to them through savings we realized with our new broker.

when our predecessors took office, their reserve fund stood at $100 million. When we took office it Fifth,
was a mere $20 million. In fact, it was the stated reason by the ratings agency for the downgrade in our bond rating. This budget makes a serious down payment on the future by growing the reserve fund for the first time in four years.

this budget contains real reforms that will make tax dollars go further and yield savings in the Sixth, future from efforts like departmental consolidation. in order to protect the vital services that this county provides, we eliminate all earmarks from Seventh, this budget. changes do not come easily or without pain. We are mindful of that fact but focused on doing our These
part to be responsible and forward looking. If we fail to make these tough choices now we will simply perpetuate a broken system that costs taxpayers more while giving them less.

other words, these cuts are necessary in order to meet the Countys core responsibilities to our In constituents. Notwithstanding the challenges, let me be clearwe are moving in the right direction. We effectively

managed the short-term crises and now with this budget we establish a positive, long-term path forward for our county.