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In a fiscal year when Montgomery County is facing nearly a $1 billion budget shortfall and county council President Nancy Floreen was forced to declare there would be "no sacred cows," almost nothing was certain.

But as the County Council finalizes its budget this week, one thing is certain: Everyone is hurting. Some districts were cut deeper than others, and there were some pleasant surprises, but this year an entire county will have to adjust to more austere times.

In a straw vote May 20, the county council passed a $4.3-billion operating budget — a 4.5 percent cut from last year and the first reduction in spending from one year to the next since 1968. A final vote Thursday will likely seal the deal.

Wheaton's Urban District was hit a bit harder than the other two designated urban districts in the county. The district, which provides cleaning, streetscaping, marketing and security to downtown Wheaton, took a 16-percent cut to its budget, while Silver Spring's Urban District took an 8 percent cut, and Bethesda's Urban District took a 1 percent cut, said Joe Callaway, the manager of Wheaton's Urban District.

"We won't be able to respond to things quite like we did," he said.

Wheaton doesn't make enough parking revenue or have a strong enough tax base to support urban-district activities, so it has pulled several hundred thousand dollars from the county's general-services fund for the past several years. But that luxury ended this week, as the county council cut the manager and one employee of Wheaton's signature Clean and Safe team, slashed funding for the World of Montgomery festival held in Wheaton every year, eliminated tree fertilization and flower plantings in the downtown area and cut litter pickup in the southern end of Wheaton.

Callaway and Mid-County Regional Services Center officials said they'll try to make the impact as inconspicuous to the public eye as possible, but it's going to take some juggling.

For example, Callaway said he's considering putting staff members to work on projects that the urban district would normally contract out, such as planting and maintaining plants in the medians. Or his staff will take out the trash and recycle themselves. As far as Sidney Cooper knows, funding for the Taste of Wheaton was spared. And the downtown Wheaton flea market doesn't cost the county any money out of pocket since it's held on the Safeway parking lot, a private lot that a private Wheaton resident assumes liability for during the market, said Cooper, the marketing director for Wheaton's urban district.

The Mid-County's services center was slammed just as hard as the others. As with all other services center, staffing will be reduced to three people. The director and her aide will remain at the center; the assistant director position is being eliminated and replaced with a lower-paid position. The front desk position will be eliminated as well, Cantor said.

And just outside of downtown Wheaton, which houses one of the county's largest parks systems, the picture is grim.

The budget is still in flux, but with the entire parks' department losing about $15 million, Brookside Gardens and Wheaton Regional Park are looking at possible furloughs, slashed programs and fewer plantings and landscaping and increased fees, said Leslie McDermott, the communications director for Brookside.

It's a nerve-wracking time for Wheaton, but county officials are trying their best to stay optimistic.

"We'll get through it," Callaway said. Then a pause. "We have to get it through it, right?"

Silver Spring

In Silver Spring, several items in jeopardy of being cut were ultimately restored by the County Council.

It is still being determined what services will be affected by the eight percent cut to the urban district budget, which funds operational costs in Silver Spring's Central Business District, said Reemberto Rodriguez, director of the Silver Spring Regional Services Center.

The annual Silver Spring Swings Summer Concert Series had also been in jeopardy of being discontinued through an 8 percent cut to the Silver Spring Urban District's $300,000 marketing budget. While the series is no longer marked for elimination, it will, however, be reduced from eight concerts to six, held weekly from July 8 to Aug. 12 on Ellsworth Drive. Each concert costs about $3,000.

But nearly half of the county funds for Community Vision, a homeless shelter housed in Progress Place on Colonial Drive in Silver Spring, were marked for cuts under County Executive Isiah Leggett's recommended budget, which prioritized emergency services and night shelters. Community Vision provides those services in addition to a day shelter with vocational training, case management, computer training and other services.

Takoma Park

Municipalities like Takoma Park were heavily impacted this year by the county's budget.

The county taxes city residents each year for services already provided by and taxed by municipal governments, including road maintenance and recreation funding, leading the county to pay the cities back a lump sum—municipal tax-rebates—to compensate for the duplicated taxes.

While the county was slated to return about $7.5 million to its three cities, 12 towns and four villages this year, the county council ultimately decided to withhold 15 percent of the rebate, meaning the municipalities will only receive about $6.4 million in fiscal 2011.

Burtonsville

Handling the budget crisis was all about give-and-take in East County.

The police substation in Briggs Chaney, one of the most argued-for items by residents and East County board members, was ultimately saved when the council opted to restore funding to all county substations.

The Health and Human Services satellite office, also inside the regional services center, was not as lucky. The office is officially closed, said center Director Joy Nurmi, and residents in need of emergency financial assistance must go to the office in downtown Silver Spring for aid.