ROCKVILLE -- A crisis is growing in Montgomery County government: Too much money to spend.

Flush with revenue from a robust economy and with a surplus approaching $100 million, the County Council leadership wants to declare an emergency and remove spending restrictions to allow a one-year municipal shopping bonanza.

Legislation sponsored by council President Isiah Leggett and Vice President Michael Subin will be voted on tomorrow "for the immediate protection of the public health and safety" and without public comment.

Their proposal is drawing harsh criticism from officials of both parties.

"Apparently, there's no rule they won't go over, around or through," said council member Nancy Dacek, a Republican who represents a rural area. "The message is, 'Hurry over with your hat, because we'll fill it with money.' "

County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, a Democrat, said, "They're out of control. They've forgotten all the lessons of the recession. They're trying to spend every dollar they can get their hands on."

Earlier this month, Duncan presented a proposed 2000 budget of $2.6 billion that included more than $160 million in new spending and $18.5 million in cuts in the local income tax rate and property and excise taxes.

The executive expressed confidence that he could get the votes to override the county's charter-imposed spending restriction.

Montgomery County law requires the council to set a ceiling in October for the next year's operating budget. A 1991 charter amendment requires a super-supermajority -- seven of nine council votes, one more than the six required for a super-majority -- to increase the budget more than 1 percent above that level.

In November, for the third time, voters upheld that provision.

After Duncan's budget presentation, three council members proposed a bill to permanently authorize the council to raise the spending restriction from 1 percent to 8 percent with a simple majority vote. That 8 percent would more than cover Duncan's proposed increase.

One of the sponsors, Democrat Blair Ewing, said the spending limits set by the previous council for the 2000 operating budget, about a $20 million increase, did not reflect the booming economy.

"We ought to be able to adjust to changes in the economy and not be bound by 6-month-old projections," he said.

Democrat Marilyn Praisner, a fiscal conservative, agreed that a smaller, one-time adjustment might be appropriate to accommodate Duncan's budget. She likened Ewing's amendment to a Mack truck running over the process.

Less than an hour after a public hearing Tuesday on the Ewing bill, Democrats Leggett and Subin announced their "compromise" eliminating all spending limits for one year.

Subin said the bill's emergency status would ensure a vote before the council began its budget review.

The timing of their proposal and the fact that it will be voted on tomorrow without public comment outraged Praisner and Dacek.

"It's not a compromise. First we had a Mack truck driving through the process. Now we have the whole fleet," Praisner said. "I'm concerned about the message it sends to Montgomery County voters."

Dacek said, "Who's to say next year it won't be 20 percent or 30 percent?"

The school board, which has asked for a $1.1 billion budget, voted 5-0 to support the Leggett-Subin bill. The teachers union and government employee groups also favor it.

Duncan argued that removing spending restrictions would have implications beyond the county's budget and boundaries.

"I was in New York [this month] trying to maintain our triple-A bond rating. When they see a council getting rid of controls approved three times by voters, they're going to conclude there's no moderation on the council," he said.

The executive said such action would "hurt us in Annapolis, too," because lawmakers might conclude Montgomery County doesn't need state education and transportation money.

Del. Kumar P. Barve, the Montgomery County delegation chairman, said he thinks Duncan's assessment is correct.

"Most jurisdictions in Maryland are more conservative than we are," he said. "Up until this point, we've shown we know how to run our finances in Montgomery County. But they [other lawmakers] don't like to see that kind of profligate spending."

Pub Date: 3/29/99