Howard County staff brief council on status of grant-funded capital projects and contingency appropriations

Howard County finance and project staff provided the County Council a line-by-line update on grant-funded capital projects and appropriation categories during a budget work session, describing which awards have been received, which remain placeholders and where capacity exists for new grants.

The presentation, led by Dr. Sun (department staff), walked council members through dozens of project codes and noted that one central appropriation code (C0367) carried an initial $20 million appropriation used to receive and spend COVID-related federal grants. “So far, about $15,000,000 have been awarded,” Dr. Sun said, and the remaining balance in the account is a placeholder to receive future grant awards.

Why it matters: Council members flagged a larger number drawn from the budget book — roughly $206 million described in background materials as “unrecognized” federal grant funding — and asked staff to reconcile how the budget-book totals map to awards, recognized revenue and pending applications. County staff said the discrepancy reflects accounting distinctions between appropriation, award and revenue recognition: appropriation is set to allow spending, an award must be received to record revenue, and reimbursements occur as projects incur billable expenditures. As Finance staff summarized, “When we receive the award, … we record it in our system.” (Rafael Hiller, county finance staff.)

Key funding and project notes discussed - C0367 (federal/state grant tracking): $20 million appropriation; about $15 million awarded; remaining amount is largely a placeholder. Dr. Sun said the county has “pretty much committed all upper funding” and that most awarded funds have been disbursed to implementing entities. Council members pressed whether awarded funds have already been spent; staff said awarded funds had largely been distributed to nonprofits or project contracts. - C0319 (tax increment financing projects): Historically appropriated amounts that were distributed in some cases directly from the state to vendors rather than routed through the county financial system. Dr. Sun noted $18 million had been appropriated for an HRD (developer) project and that certain state legislative provisions allowed some state funds to flow directly to vendors without passing through the county’s accounts. - New cultural center and other line-item grants: Several items (for example, an original $10 million NOAA grant for flood-related work) were not awarded; conversely the state approved an additional $10 million for the North Tunnel project. Staff said some previously authorized but unused appropriations create capacity to accept new awards. - Transportation and bus-stop improvements: County reported a mix of congressional direct spending and state funds. A $750,000 congressional-directed award for “flash bus stop” construction had been awarded and contracts were in progress; a $1.5 million congressional request was not awarded but the county obtained $400,000 from MTA for bus-stop improvements, leaving roughly $1.15 million capacity against prior authorization for bus-stop projects. - Energy management (C0329): Multiple pending applications include a $2 million Maryland Energy Administration application for geothermal heat pumps at High Ridge Road Building, $1.25 million congressional earmark request for solar and battery storage at North Laurel Community Center (outcome uncertain), and a $646,000 federal pass-through for fleet EVs (pending). Staff noted an earlier hoped-for federal program (BRIC/other federal program referenced informally) did not materialize, which left about $3 million of prior appropriation capacity that staff are pursuing with other eligible grants. - Community Resource/Family Support Center (DCRS): The budget shows state appropriation with $200,000 remaining tied to a pending lease negotiation and a pending agreement with property owners.

Council concerns and follow-up requests Council members repeatedly asked staff to provide reconciled totals showing (a) appropriation amounts, (b) awards received, (c) revenues recognized in the financial system and (d) actual project expenditures per project or project component. Council chair and others asked staff to produce a reconciled accounting because the budget-book “unrecognized” figure differs from what staff can show as pending awards versus amounts not yet billed.

Staff response and next steps Dr. Sun and finance staff said they would provide additional reconciliations and project-by-project totals on request. Rafael Hiller (finance) explained that awards are not recorded in the county financial system until the award letter is received and that the portal/budget book can show prior appropriations that have not yet translated to recorded revenue. Dr. Sun recommended using the contingency appropriation code (C0214) to capture mid-year grants as they materialize and said project managers are actively pursuing eligible grants for energy, flood mitigation and other projects.

Ending Council members requested a clearer, consolidated reconciliation of the budget-book figures and the county financial system showing what has been appropriated, awarded, recorded as revenue and actually spent per project. Staff agreed to return with more detailed, project-level reconciliation in the next few days as the council develops the FY26 budget.