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Committee pushes to restore Wheaton Regional Park geo bond funding cut in county executive’s CIP amendments
Summary
Committee members asked the council to restore a $2 million reduction to geo bond funding for the Wheaton Regional Park projects in the county executive’s revised CIP affordability reconciliation, saying the cut would set back work tied to a state grant for the Wheaton Action Sports Park.
Montgomery County legislative committee members on April 23 urged restoring $2 million in general obligation bond funding the county executive removed from the commission’s FY26–30 capital program, saying the cut affects implementation of the Wheaton Regional Park master plan.
Why it matters: the Planning Board and Parks staff said the $1.5 million removed in FY26 supported tasks that are preparatory work for a state grant the county recently received and are necessary to move the Wheaton Action Sports Park project toward construction.
Parks testimony: Parks staff said they were surprised by the $2 million geo bond reduction and noted a related state grant of $3 million for the Wheaton Action Sports Park. “We were very, surprised because ... we had also been told to cut $2,000,000 worth of geo bonds with 1,500,000.0 coming in FY 26. And really the only place to go for that funding is unfortunately the Wheaton Regional Park PDF,” Parks staff told the committee.
Committee action: committee members asked that the council restore the previously scheduled geo bond funding for the Wheaton project and treat the commission’s existing CIP schedule as the baseline for reconciliation. The committee recorded a formal recommendation to restore the funding and directed staff to carry the request to the full council for the reconciliation process.
OMB context: Office of Management and Budget staff explained the executive’s recommended CIP adjustments were made in the context of an overall revenue reduction that required roughly $42 million in reductions across county programs; OMB said the geo bond change was part of that exercise.
Ending: Committee members said they will press the full council and the county executive for restoration of the Wheaton Regional Park geo bond funding during the CIP reconciliation process, citing the need to align county bond funding with recent state grant awards.
