Greenbelt council reviews Planning & Community Development budget amid rising appeals and tighter reserves

City Manager Sal Marrone and Planning Director Terry Ruby briefed the Greenbelt City Council during a budget work session on the Planning & Community Development portion of the proposed FY2026 budget.

Ruby and department staff told council that the overall FY2026 budget includes position reductions: "the FY 2026 budget has 13 positions on paper that were that have been reduced," Marrone said, and staff enumerated that one of those reductions is in planning and community development. Ruby described how long‑time staff have absorbed duties: she thanked staff who "picked up the additional duties of that code supervisor and figure[d] out a way to handle that work."

The city manager said the budget process began in November and that the city faced a material near‑term shortfall: "we were facing a $3,000,000 deficit that quickly grew to over $4,000,000, and the budget before you, addressed, addressed closed that deficit entirely." Marrone said the city has set aside roughly $2.1 million in fund balance as a contingency for property tax appeal outcomes and noted the county’s budget had not been finalized, creating additional uncertainty.

Ruby reported strong program activity and revenue gains for the department: inspectors completed nearly 1,000 single‑family rental inspections and more than 3,000 property‑maintenance inspections, and commercial licensing fees are running about $76,000 higher than anticipated. She said the department aims for full compliance but noted municipal infraction revenues rose from an expected $7,000 to about $20,000 because enforcement uncovered more violations.

Council members pressed for clearer data to guide budget decisions. Council Member Daniel asked for geographic breakdowns of code enforcement complaints; Ruby replied the city’s software can provide counts by subdivision or complex and that staff will provide violation totals adjusted for the number of units in each complex rather than a raw count. Council Member Rodney Roberts asked how often on‑call engineering consultants have been used; Ruby said a small portion of professional services funds funded on‑call engineering this year and cited assistance at 7010 Greenbelt Road and Beltway Plaza construction as examples.

Why this matters: council must balance reduced staff capacity and mounting service demand while preserving statutory compliance and key capital projects. The budget discussion set follow‑up requests for more granular complaint and enforcement data, clarification on contingency uses and continuing monitoring of rising licensing and infraction receipts.

Looking ahead: Ruby noted several planned projects and grant applications in the coming year and asked council to consider which work should be prioritized if staffing levels remain flat.