The County Council yesterday approved more than $1 million in two special appropriations to support area youth sports.
The appropriations will be used for the following:
- Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth, and Families, $500,000 in grant funding along with $50,000 for administration costs to provide sports programming to vulnerable youth or those from local low-income families
- Montgomery Recreation, $500,000 for affordable and universal youth sports leagues and activities targeting underserved communities, and
- Office of Community Use of Public Facilities, $500,000 to reduce field and building use fees for free or nominal fee programs for vulnerable youth.
In addition, two council members introduced a bill to lower annual license fees for county retailers and restaurant operators.
Expedited Bill 40-20, Licensing and Regulations – Uniform Trader’s License Fee, introduced by co-lead sponsors Councilmembers Andrew Friedson (D-District 1) and Evan Glass (D-At Large) would have the county select a uniform $15 trader’s license fee for affected businesses.
“Trader’s license fees currently range between $15 to $800 annually for any business that has retail inventory and are established based on the value of that inventory,” according to a press release.
“This pandemic has forced us to rethink the way Montgomery County government operates by requiring us to modernize and find efficiencies in our policies, procedures and permitting,” Glass said in the release. “This legislation will save mom and pop businesses hundreds of dollars a year in government fees and help level the playing field between them and large national restaurant chains and retailers, ensuring all businesses pay an equal fee.”
Council President Sidney Katz (D-District 3), along with Councilmembers Nancy Navarro (D-District 4), Craig Rice (D-District 2) and Gabe Albornoz (D-At Large), are co-sponsoring the legislation.
The bill is scheduled for a public hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The deadline to sign up to speak is Sept. 21 at 5 p.m.
Image from Wikimedia Commons licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.