It’s crunch time for the Montgomery County Council. Here’s its to-do list.

After a seven-week recess, the Montgomery County Council will face a jam-packed agenda when it convenes Tuesday.

It will grapple with proposed tax credits, controversial appointments and the future of the county’s trash incinerator, among other issues.

The meeting will come less than two weeks after Will Jawando suffered a heart attack. The at-large council member is recuperating at home after surgery. He said Thursday he’ll be back to work soon. As of Friday afternoon, it was unclear whether he will participate in the meeting.

With current members’ four-year terms expiring in December, it’s crunch time to get bills passed before a new council is sworn in.

Council members plan to introduce nine bills Tuesday, according to a draft agenda, including three sponsored by Kate Stewart that would create new tax credits. Stewart told The Banner on Thursday that the legislation addresses increased financial pressures on families across the county.

One of those three bills would increase the county’s supplement to the state’s tax credit for homeowners with a household income of $106,800 or less. The amount of credit would depend on the homeowner’s income level. This legislation is also sponsored by Stewart’s colleagues on the government operations committee, which she chairs — Shebra Evans, Andrew Friedson and Sidney Katz.

The second bill would grant $2,500 to county public school teachers and employees represented by unions. The third would give a $500 tax credit per child to parents making $15,000 or less.

The 11-member council will vote in the coming weeks whether to overturn County Executive Marc Elrich’s veto of the County Council’s decision to reappoint James Hedrick to the planning board.

The council voted 10-0 last month to appoint Hedrick to a second four-year term. Council member Laurie-Anne Sayles was absent and did not participate in the vote.

Elrich also opposed Hedrick’s initial appointment in 2023, citing Hedrick’s public opposition to Elrich’s views on housing and development.

Following 10 public hearings, the council will hear from environmental officials about options for replacing the county’s trash incinerator.

Council President Natali Fani-González has said she wants the body to decide the future of the incinerator by Thanksgiving. At a recent town hall, community members voiced frustration with the plans under consideration by elected officials.

Gaithersburg City Council to appoint new mayor pending Ashman’s resignation

The Gaithersburg City Council plans to appoint a new mayor and new City Council member if Mayor Jud Ashman wins the District 3 seat on the Montgomery County Council in November.

In Gaithersburg the mayor sits on the City Council, so an Ashman victory would open a seat on the body. It has five members, plus the mayor.

Ashman has served as mayor since 2014. He beat Rockville City Council member Izola Shaw for the Democratic nomination for the county’s District 3 seat in the June primary.

Gaithersburg residents can apply for the open City Council seat by 5 p.m. Oct. 2. The application and a list of eligibility requirements are available online.

Council members will appoint the new member to a limited term, to serve until the next city election in November 2027.

Ashman, a Democrat, is favored to win in the heavily blue district, where he faces Republican nominee Ricky Mui.

Ashman said if he wins he will resign Nov. 9.

“It’s my expectation that the council will appoint one of themselves to serve as mayor for the year,” Ashman said. “This makes sense to me because no one knows the role and the issues and the culture here better than my five City Council colleagues do.”

Gaithersburg has been through this process before, when Katz left his mayoral seat to join the County Council in 2014.