8/8/2019 I.M.P. announces MoCo lawsuit
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Contact: Audrey Fix Schaeferfor I.M.P.
301-947-1133 [email protected]
Montgomery County, Maryland Sued over illegal funding of Silver
Spring Music Hall
BETHESDA, MD. Sept. 2 -- The Montgomery County, MD,
Administration has been suedby Bethesda, MD-based I.M.P. over
illegal funding of the Silver Spring music hall. Theillegal funding
is the latest in a series of clandestine moves that have been
discoveredin the Administrations activities to build the Silver
Spring music hall without followingproper procedures as detailed in
the lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in the Anne ArundelCounty
Circuit Court as part of a lawsuit against the State of
Maryland.
LAWSUIT ALLEGATIONS CONCERNING MONTGOMERY COUNTY
The lawsuit states that The Countys Chief Administrative Officer
told the CountyCouncil that the County would not spend a penny more
than $4 million on the musichall and that all costs were capped at
$8 million. To assure that no additional Countyfunds would be spent
without further approval by the County Council, anAgreement between
the developer LDG Inc and the County states several times that
the County must obtain council approval to use more County funds
on the project. TheCounty has failed to seek the contractually
required appropriation and therefore lacks
the appropriate funds necessary to pay for the project. Under
the terms of theAgreement, the project may not begin until the
County Council through a budgetaryappropriation approves all
necessary funds. The Agreement further states that onceconstruction
begins, the County is liable for millions of dollars in damages to
LDG Inc.should an unacceptable condition, such as improper funding,
stop the project.
COUNTY HIDES CONSTRUCTION COSTS
The County has yet to release to the County Council or the
Maryland General Assembly the construction budget for the project.
Documents produced solely in response to asubpoena in this lawsuit
reveal that the County has known since 2008 that theconstruction
estimates for the music hall exceeded $8 million. In other words,
theCounty knew the price tag was millions of dollars more than the
$8 million cap when it
testified before the County Council in March 2008 seeking
approval for $ 4 million andpromised that the County would never
pay a penny more. Knowing the project wasmillions of dollars over
budget, the Administration nonetheless denied to the CountyCouncil
there would be a cost overrun. In addition, the County consistently
refused toproduce construction cost documents to the Maryland
General Assembly despiteseveral specific requests for the documents
and a statutory requirement to providesuch documents.
A cost overrun of $3.2 million was revealed on August 10, 2010in
lawsuit documents. In short, the Administration hid the cost
overrun fromlegislators and the public for more than two years.
Most significant, the documentsrevealing the cost overrun were
produced just after the Montgomery County Councilrecessed for the
next seven weeks.
The Administrations deliberate failure to provide construction
costs figures is anattempt to avoid the necessary legislative
hearings to appropriate the additional fundsbecause the
Administration intends to avoid public discussion, debate, and
perhapscensure regarding the handling of this project.
