Montgomery County Commissioners highlighted their commitment to working together, as they touted accomplishments and unveiled new initiatives during the State of the County address Wednesday at Montgomery County Community College. The event drew about 500 row officers, executives, nonprofit leaders, county personnel and residents to hear a review of the past year and goals for the year ahead.
Commissioners’ Chairwoman Jamila Winder said “collaboration” was designated as the event’s 2026 theme, contrasting bipartisan support in the county to the divisions witnessed at the federal and state levels of government.
“We won’t let political gridlock get in the way of progress,” Winder said. “We’ve already proven that we can work across the aisle as a board.”
“In 2025, when it seemed like so many aspects of government weren’t working. With the federal shutdown and a state budget impasse, here in Montgomery County, we are seeing things happen,” said Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairman Neil Makhija.
The commissioners announced a series of new programs and initiatives during the event, including the upcoming rollout of a new “No Wrong Front Door” service model designed to streamline how residents access county programs and supports across departments; introduced the ‘THRIVE’ program spearheaded by the Commerce Department to spur economic growth within the county’s business sector, and continued investments in transitional housing and mental health, according to a county spokesperson.
Bipartisanship
Winder and Makhija hold the Democratic majority on the board while Commissioner Tom DBello serves as the lone Republican member. While their political ideology differs, the board stands firm on furthering social services projects dedicated to alleviating burdens of the area’s most vulnerable residents, all three stressed in their remarks.
Homelessness
Tackling the homelessness crisis has been top of mind for elected officials as hundreds of individuals are impacted in a county that’s gone years without an operational brick-and-mortar homeless shelter.
The Coordinated Homeless Outreach Center in Norristown closed in June 2022. Officials previously earmarked $10 million in the 2025-29 capital improvement program fund for a homeless shelter, with targeted projects in Lansdale, Norristown and Pottstown. A new transitional housing site is set to open in Lansdale in coming months, and in Pottstown, funding has provided space at the local Days Inn as shelter.
“This is amazing because there have been multiple groups over the years that have talked about solving the homeless problem,” DiBello said, stressing that the current administration has been “united on that effort.”
“By providing shelter we’re ensuring that everyone in our community can think beyond day-to-day survival and they can actually begin to plan for their future,” Makhija said.
Hunger
Addressing ongoing food insecurity remains a priority as some 85,000 people are experiencing food insecurity locally, commissioners said. One accomplishment was the recent opening of a Share Food Program warehouse in Hatfield Township. The 27,000-sqaure-foot refrigerated space can hold thousands of pounds of fresh, frozen and packaged food to help more than 70 area food pantries.
Among challenges: Food pantries reported an uptick in demand, particularly during the longest running federal government shutdown that temporarily suspended SNAP payments for 42 million people across the nation in November of last year.
“This is local government and community working together, stepping up, especially when the federal government has stepped back,” Makhija said of the county’s response to aid anti-hunger efforts.
2026 budget
Commissioners spotlighted the recent passage of a $632.7 million 2026 operating budget, which came with a 4 percent property tax increase, as the first bipartisan budget action taken in nearly a decade.
DiBello said that initial budgetary discussions noted a $55 million deficit, which he said would have translated to an 18 percent tax increase. “We needed to do something,” he said, explaining that they began “evaluating strategies and making recommendations” to eventually identify some $14 million in operational savings.
As they look at the county’s 2027 financials, DiBello said, “It’s a process that’s already started” and he pledged “we will continue to work extremely hard” on upcoming budget proceedings. “We’ve had a lot of success over the past two years,” he said, “and this year we will integrate more analysis into our decision making. We need to concentrate on what’s going to bring the best return on our investments.”
Working together
Officials agreed they must continue to work together for the good of their constituents. They noted actions in 2025 raising the minimum wage for county employees; appointing a Chief Sustainability Officer and a Director of Immigrant Affairs; working toward establishing a behavioral health crisis center in King of Prussia, and ensuring stable tuition for the next three years at the Community College.
“We have our differences,” Winder said. “But I promise you, as leaders we’re going to bring each other together because that’s how they get the work done.”
“We’re going to show the nation that Montgomery County is a government that makes a real difference in people’s lives, and we can do this together with all of your help,” Winder said, emphasizing “with accountability, with transparency and most importantly, with collaboration.”
