Public Hearing on FY27 budget

Montgomery County Council held a Public Hearings on the FY27 budget on April 7-9, 2026. Videos and testimonies are available on Council website and Youtube, including Zero Waste Montgomery County testimony here.

FY27 budget includes the DEP's plan to close the incinerator in 2027.

DEP’s plan will accomplish:

• Closing the largest industrial polluter in our County, that has been contributing to high levels of chronic lower respiratory disease and cancer in Montgomery County for decades;

• Stopping 150,000 tons of toxic ash a year from being dumped on a minority community in Virginia;

• Disposing of our unrecyclable trash in several out-of-state landfills that meet strict environmental justice criteria. These remote locations do not harm local residents. They capture methane gas and have modern liners;

• This solution will produce half the greenhouse gases of our incinerator and multiple times less toxic emissions.

The DEP has chosen a contractor and is currently finalizing the contract. All systems are in place to complete the transition by January 2027! 🥳 We now need the County Council to approve the budget for this plan in May 2026.