Take Action

Contact your council member, use our talking points, share the data, and get involved.

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Contact Your Council Member

Enter your ZIP code to find your district representative and at-large members. Pre-drafted email template included.

Talking Points

Use these at budget hearings, letters to the editor, civic meetings, or social media.

  • Did you know? Montgomery County spends $7,023 per person per year — 58% more than Fairfax County ($4,435).

    Source: FY2026 Adopted Budgets, U.S. Census ACS 2024

  • Did you know? County budget grew 32% (FY20–FY26) while population grew 1.9%.

    Source: Montgomery County FY2026 Adopted Budget

  • Did you know? Montgomery County's income growth ranks 28th of 30 peer counties.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS, BEA

  • Did you know? MCPS administrative overhead: 45%. Fairfax County schools: 37%. The 8-point gap on a $3.6B budget is roughly $288M.

    Source: MCPS/FCPS budget documents, OIG

  • Did you know? A $168M electric bus contract was declared illegal by the Maryland State Board of Education. Two MCPS transportation officials were criminally convicted.

    Source: Montgomery County OIG, State Board of Education

  • Did you know? The average MoCo household pays approximately $2,588 more per year in county-related taxes than a comparable Fairfax household.

    Source: MoCoGap tax model, county budget documents

  • Did you know? A family earning $300K in Montgomery County faces a combined marginal rate of ~9.2%; the same family in Fairfax faces 5.75% with no county income tax.

    Source: MD/VA tax rates, county piggyback

  • Did you know? Office vacancy in Rockville-Bethesda hit 18.9%. Same commute to D.C. as Fairfax — different tax burden.

    Source: Commercial real estate data

  • Did you know? Transit budget: $211M. Fare revenue: $0. Fareboxes were too expensive to replace; fares were eliminated instead.

    Source: County transit budget, OIG

  • Did you know? Your county council votes on a $7.6B budget every May. They heard from about 300 residents last year. Out of 1,082,000. Be resident #301.

    Source: Council testimony records

Download as a one-pager from the Press Kit.

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$7,023 — Montgomery County's per capita spending

Fairfax County: $4,435. Same region. 37% less.

https://mocogap.org

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Upcoming budget dates

  • Mar 2026County Executive proposed FY27 budget release
  • Apr 2026Council budget hearings — public testimony open
  • May 2026Council votes on FY27 adopted budget

For Candidates

Running for office in Montgomery County? Here's what voters want to know. Five yes/no questions:

  1. Will you support an independent performance audit of MCPS?
  2. Will you cap budget growth at the rate of income growth?
  3. Will you require above-MOE justification from MCPS?
  4. Will you fund an additional OIG position for MCPS oversight?
  5. Will you publish annual per capita comparisons vs. peer counties?

Candidate response tracker coming when candidates respond.