Takoma Park council adopts FY27 budget priorities after debate over ARPA, tax guidance and staffing

The Takoma Park City Council voted to adopt amended FY27 budget priorities following debate about how to handle positions partially funded with federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and a late amendment offering tax-rate guidance.

Mayor Searcy introduced the resolution and summarized edits to the draft, including language to "maintain and expand the city's housing stock" with an explicit focus on affordable and middle-income housing, planning for replacement options for the Takoma Park Recreation Center, and measures to advance climate goals such as fleet electrification. In the section addressing staffing and ARPA, the mayor said the resolution asks staff to "identify alternatives to increases in the general fund to support FTEs that leverage ARPA funds" so that the city does not automatically absorb ARPA-funded salaries into the general fund budget.

Council members pressed staff on timing and mechanics. Council Member Schlegel asked whether the ARPA timing implied a directive for an FY26 amendment; Mayor Searcy and City Manager Mandra Desperto said the federal timetable for ARPA does not align cleanly with the city's fiscal schedule and that some awards carry into the middle of FY27. Desperto said staff will seek "sustainable general fund savings," including examining vacancies and other offsets, and emphasized the aim is not to rely on special-purpose reserves or one-time funds to cover ongoing personnel costs.

Council Member Lamond offered an amendment to treat the adopted FY26 residential tax rate (0.522) as the maximum allowable rate for development of the FY27 proposed budget and to "strive to present the council with the budget that is consistent with the estimated constant yield plus ECI" when that estimate is lower. Lamond said the amendment would signal the council’s intention to limit tax increases and asked staff to use the best available estimates. City Manager Desperto and several members noted staff would have to rely on estimates (the constant-yield figures typically arrive in February) and warned that a lower rate could require service reductions.

After debate the council moved and seconded the amended resolution and approved it on voice vote with two abstentions recorded. The adopted document asks staff to build the FY27 proposed budget consistent with council priorities and to report potential staff-identified cost-saving measures so the council can consider sustainable options before final reconciliation.

The council also discussed and clarified that some positions currently supported partially by ARPA perform duties beyond ARPA administration and that any long-term decision to sustain those positions on the general fund would need explicit council approval when the budget is adopted.

The resolution gives staff direction to return with a proposed FY27 budget in the spring that accounts for ARPA timing and identifies sustainable offsets; councilmembers may adjust the final tax rate and service levels during the reconciliation process.