Coal Fund Balance Tops $11 Million After $200,085 April Royalty

Montgomery County Board Finance & Budget Committee Meeting | June 4, 2026

Article Summary: The Montgomery County Board Finance & Budget Committee on June 4 reviewed capital improvement and coal fund reports showing a $200,085 coal royalty payment received in April and a total Coal Fund 375 balance of just over $11 million.

Capital Improvement & Coal Fund Reports Key Points:

• The reports noted a $200,085 coal royalty payment in April.
• The total Coal Fund 375 balance stands at just over $11 million.
• The committee reviewed and discussed the reports; no motion or vote was recorded.
• Later in the same meeting, the committee recommended 11 payments out of Fund 375 totaling roughly $39,500.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Montgomery County’s Coal Fund 375 holds just over $11 million, the Finance & Budget Committee learned on Thursday, June 4, 2026, in a review of capital improvement and coal fund reports that also recorded a $200,085 coal royalty payment received in April.

The committee reviewed and discussed the reports. No motion or vote is recorded on the item, which appeared third on the agenda, immediately after public comment.

Little Detail on the Record

The minutes do not identify the source of the royalty payment, describe the agreement or agreements generating it, state whether $200,085 is typical of monthly or periodic royalty receipts, or give a year-to-date royalty total. They do not report the capital improvement fund’s balance, and do not distinguish which figures came from which report.

Nor do the minutes describe what Coal Fund 375 may be spent on, whether its uses are restricted, or how the fund relates to the county’s General Fund — which County Board Administration told the same committee later in the meeting could show a deficit of around $500,000 for FY2025 once the audit is complete.

Money Moving Out

The fund’s balance is a working one. As item nine on the same agenda, the committee recommended 11 Coal Fund 375 payments covering requests from Buildings & Grounds, the Sheriff’s Office and EMA/EPA/911, led by $15,405 to C&C Heating & Cooling and $7,396.38 to Roger Jennings.

Fund 375 purchases have been a recurring item. At the Coordinating Committee’s May 28 meeting, Fund 375 purchases and the capital improvement and coal fund reports were both listed among the Finance & Budget Committee’s upcoming business for review and discussion.

Present were Committee Chair Connie Beck, Chris Daniels, Rob Corso, Dr. Patty Whitworth and Evan Young; Doug Donaldson was absent. The meeting ran nearly two hours, from 8:33 a.m. to 10:28 a.m.