A depressed commercial tax base and moratorium on new development in parts of Montgomery County have hurt the county’s fiscal health, according to a new report, which recommends several ways to spur new development and business growth in the suburban Maryland county.
Empower Montgomery, an advocacy group established by business executives, commissioned the report from Sage Policy Group and its lead economist, Anirban Basu. The report, released Tuesday, followed Sage’s April report that detailed the slow pace of business formation and job growth in the county.
The new report concludes that Montgomery County is “marching toward fiscal peril,” and recommends several steps it should take to improve its financial well-being.
Its first recommendation addresses a moratorium on new development put in place in some parts of the county last year because of crowding schools. The county last year halted development in areas around two high schools in Silver Spring and one elementary school in Bethesda. It could expand that moratorium July 1 to include areas around four more high schools in Kensington, North Bethesda, Rockville and Gaithersburg, plus two elementary schools in Bethesda and Silver Spring.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Jon Banister over at Bisnow