Takoma Park council opens FY27 budget work session; members debate maintaining services vs. tax changes

Takoma Park’s City Council used a special session with Maryland’s District 20 delegation as a prelude to a lengthy FY27 budget work session during which members debated whether to maintain current service levels, trim programs, or change the residential property tax rate.

Public commenters framed the budget debate. Milford Specker, speaking for the Takoma Park Community Budget Working Group, warned that local property taxes have risen dramatically relative to inflation and urged the council to consider staff reductions, deferred capital projects and new local fees to improve affordability. "High taxes in the city are causing a lot of stress on community members, specifically seniors," Specker said.

Council discussion focused on three linked choices: desired service level, changes in headcount (FTEs), and the tax rate assumption the city manager should use when preparing the proposed budget. Several council members favored maintaining the level of core city services in the initial draft while asking staff to develop options. Others—seeking fiscal discipline—urged staff to prepare a constant‑yield scenario (no revenue growth from property assessment increases) so the council could see what reductions would be required.

Mayor Felicia Searcy said she would be comfortable seeing a proposed budget that keeps the current property tax rate as the baseline for manager proposals, while asking staff to identify targeted options for adjustments. "I am fine with us being presented with a property tax rate that is the same," she said, but added she wanted council to see tradeoffs and contingency plans if costs rise.

Key budget topics the council asked staff to return with cost estimates on include:

- Targeted supports for residents affected by federal actions (immigration, SNAP cuts, federal layoffs) and options for partnering with county programs; - Stormwater resilience and flood planning (the city’s stormwater program operates from an enterprise fund; staff said capacity, not solely funding, limits immediate expansion); - Climate priorities tied to the county’s upcoming Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) implementation and potential fleet electrification needs; - Review of temporary ARPA‑funded positions and whether any should be sunsetted or repurposed.

Council members debated tax options in depth. Several favored asking the manager for a constant‑yield budget and a second scenario that included an inflationary adjustment (such as a cost‑of‑living allowance) to reflect rising personnel and operating costs; others cautioned that any reduction in the tax rate now could require larger increases later to catch up on deferred capital or operating needs.

City staff and financial consultants will present more detailed scenarios in the coming weeks (including constant‑yield, constant‑yield+inflation and maintain‑rate options) so the council can weigh program changes, FTE impacts and reserve levels before adopting final FY27 budget priorities.

What’s next: The mayor said she will circulate a draft budget priorities resolution by the weekend. Staff will return with scenario analyses, a stormwater briefing, and the sustainability progress report early in the new year.