Budget Process

As the fiscal 2014 budget season closes with the Montgomery County Council's final approval of a $4.8 billion spending plan Thursday , the school system is already gearing up for 2015 with a new budget process that will tap focus groups for input. The focus groups will meet through the end of June. The teachers and principals unions, administrators, Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations and other community organizations selected members to serve in the groups.

As the fiscal 2014 budget season closes with the Montgomery County Council's final approval of a $4.8 billion spending plan Thursday , the school system is already gearing up for 2015 with a new budget process that will tap focus groups for input. The focus groups will meet through the end of June. The teachers and principals unions, administrators, Montgomery County Council of Parent Teacher Associations and other community organizations selected members to serve in the groups.

The Charles County government budget process provides for the opportunity to allocate resources to various government agencies so that community needs are met. Sometimes the budget process can become controversial, as often was the case more than 10 years ago in disputes between education officials and the general government. Beginning in fiscal 2000, the Charles Board of Education and the Charles commissioners entered into a funding agreement that focused on education performance and benchmarks in exchange for funding commitments...

Mayoral politics and governance collided Thursday as several potential contenders in next year's race pushed through major changes to Mayor Vincent C. Gray's goals. The moves set the stage for a contentious two weeks as the D.C. Council rushes to complete work on the budget and mayoral hopefuls face a Democratic primary in April. On Thursday, the council slowed redevelopment projects near the Anacostia River, added money for school librarians, increased the ranks of parking-enforcement officers and...

Contrary to Wayne C. Witkowski and Leonard H. Becker's assertions on this page last week [" An unlawful proposal for D.C. budget autonomy ," Local Opinions, Oct. 28], there are substantial bases to conclude that the Home Rule Act can be amended via referendum to give the District autonomy over its local budget. And regardless of the outcome, a vote on budget autonomy would be an important step forward in the District's fight for self-determination and should be vigorously pursued.

On Capitol Hill this week, the fight over the federal budget is being delayed by chimps. The problem is not actual chimpanzees running amok in the Capitol's ornate hallways. That might actually fix the budget problem as frightened Republicans and Democrats barricaded themselves in committee rooms. Forced together, they might learn to see one another not as enemies, but as well-meaning people with honest and surmountable differences. Nope. It's not anything like that. Instead, what's holding up...

Dale R. McOmber, 87, a former assistant director of the Office of Management and Budget who helped prepare federal budgets for seven presidents, died Aug. 22 at Inova Fairfax Hospital. He had complications from a broken hip, son James McOmber said. After coming to Washington in 1951, Mr. McOmber worked as a budget analyst for the Navy Department's old Bureau of Ordnance. He joined the Bureau of the Budget, later known as the Office of Management and Budget, in 1957. He became the OMB's assistant...

The April 17 front-page article " Running on empty ," detailing one social worker's efforts to serve her clients in Pulaski, Va., showed the bleak reality many Americans face because of the bad economy. The piece should be required reading for everyone involved in the budget process, which is becoming increasingly insensitive to the plight of the poor. This is apparent in the House Budget Committee's proposed 2012 budget, which contains a number of drastic cuts to safety-net programs.

Supervisors deadlocked Tuesday over what is typically a procedural matter, giving a glimpse of what is likely to be a contentious budget process. The Board of County Supervisors spent much of its Tuesday meeting debating what real estate tax rate the county should advertise. Although supervisors can always pass a tax rate lower than the one advertised, they cannot, by law, pass one higher. So deciding what rate to advertise determines the flexibility the board will have during the budget process.

The Manassas City Council adopted a preliminary budget Monday that would call for more than $5 million in cuts but result in a lower tax bill for many Manassas residents. The $95.5 million budget plan, which passed 4 to 2, would mean cutting about $2.9 million from the city budget in fiscal 2011 and $2.6 million from the schools. The average residential tax bill would drop 4.1 percent. "I cannot support anything that would increase taxes," said Marc T. Aveni (R), chairman of the council's Finance Committee.

The White House is expected to release its 2014 budget proposal on Wednesday, laying out the president's vision for how Congress should structure taxes and spending. Budgeting for the federal government is a complex and multi-layered process that bears little resemblance to the kind of financial planning most Americans do at their kitchen tables. The following is a primer on how the annual process works. The White House role Law requires the president to submit a budget request before the first Monday in February, although...

Residents invited to discuss proposed fiscal 2014 budget Loudoun County has scheduled public hearings to allow residents to comment on the proposed fiscal 2014 budget. The first hearing will be from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the board room of the county's Government Center, 1 Harrison St. SE , Leesburg. If a second hearing is needed, it will be at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Board of Supervisors will also have a public hearing at 9 a.m. Saturday, at the Public Schools Administration Building, 21000 Education Ct., Ashburn.

Lisa Brown worked at the White House in senior roles during the Clinton and Obama administrations, including four years as deputy counsel and counsel to Vice President Gore, staff secretary to President Obama, and most recently at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as acting chief performance officer. She will assume the post of vice president and general counsel at Georgetown University on March 1. Brown spoke with Tom Fox, who is a guest writer for the Washington Post's ...

Senate Democrats plan to draft a budget blueprint that calls for significantly higher taxes on the wealthy, oil and gas companies and corporations doing business overseas, reopening a battle over taxes Republicans had hoped to lay to rest with the "fiscal cliff. " For nearly four years, Senate leaders have ducked their legal duty to craft a comprehensive budget framework. Now, however, Democrats see the budget process as "a great opportunity" to pursue additional tax increases — and to create a...

Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Joshua P. Starr is scheduled to propose a budget Tuesday that would exceed the county's minimum spending requirement by $10 million in the next fiscal year. Requesting more than the minimum for schools probably will set up months of philosophical and political debate about how much the county should spend to maintain one of the best-performing school systems in the nation while balancing obligations to fund services such as public safety,...

As President Obama prepares for a second term, it is a certainty that there will be turnover in his Cabinet and among political appointees across all the departments and agencies. The Clinton administration had about a 40-percent turnover while the Bush administration lost about 65 percent of its top leadership during the second term. These important leadership positions will be occupied by some individuals with experience in government, but also by many who have little knowledge of how to operate in...

With Virginia's state budget nearly two months late, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell is only tinkering with the General Assembly 's two-year, $85 billion spending plan. He's not making major changes. McDonnell (R) submitted $43.9 million in amendments about two hours before his midnight Friday deadline. He made 88 changes in all, some of them highly technical, some of them directing more funds to education, economic development and scientific research. "A Bristol teacher's paycheck, a Hampton deputy sheriff's salary,...

Senate Democrats plan to draft a budget blueprint that calls for significantly higher taxes on the wealthy, oil and gas companies and corporations doing business overseas, reopening a battle over taxes Republicans had hoped to lay to rest with the "fiscal cliff. " For nearly four years, Senate leaders have ducked their legal duty to craft a comprehensive budget framework. Now, however, Democrats see the budget process as "a great opportunity" to pursue additional tax increases — and to create a...

Contrary to Wayne C. Witkowski and Leonard H. Becker's assertions on this page last week [" An unlawful proposal for D.C. budget autonomy ," Local Opinions, Oct. 28], there are substantial bases to conclude that the Home Rule Act can be amended via referendum to give the District autonomy over its local budget. And regardless of the outcome, a vote on budget autonomy would be an important step forward in the District's fight for self-determination and should be vigorously pursued.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to direct County Administrator Tim Hemstreet to prepare a fiscal 2014 budget that would lower the county's real property tax rate and leave the public schools facing a projected $68 million shortfall. Despite concerns expressed by some Loudoun School Board members — who have warned that such extensive cuts would have a profoundly negative effect on the school system — the supervisors followed a board committee...