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County staff outline $22.8 million leases budget as MCPS depot and police moves advance
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Summary
The Government Operations & Fiscal Policy Committee reviewed a FY27 leases NDA recommending $22.8 million (a $5.7 million, 33% increase). Key items include the MCPS bus-depot consolidation to Gooty Drive under a 30-year lease, higher maintenance chargeback rates, a small automated enforcement expansion and a temporary move of the 4th District Police Station to Wheaton HQ.
The Government Operations & Fiscal Policy Committee reviewed the county executive’s FY27 leases non-departmental account, which staff said is recommended at $22,800,000 — a $5,700,000 (33%) increase over FY26. Council staff walked the committee through Table 1 of the budget packet, which summarizes changes across several lease-related items.
Staff said the largest single change supports relocation of the Montgomery County Public Schools bus depot from Krabs (Crabs) Branch to a site on Gooty Drive and consolidation with an adjacent Old Dover parking lot; the county has executed a lease with a 30-year base term and a 10-year extension option. Staff noted the FY27 amount reflects 11 months of rent because the lease included an abatement term. "You can see how the number was derived," staff said while directing members to the packet rollup.
Greg Hassan of the Department of General Services described the depot work as a relocation of depot operations and vehicle repairs to the Gooty Drive building, with some accessory parking remaining at Krabs Branch. Hassan said renovations are planned and that a mandatory referral and community meeting are scheduled next week. He characterized the approach as a partial, stepwise solution rather than a single full-facility replacement.
Staff also described restored rent payments at 1401 Rockville Pike where an FY26 abatement left no rent due that year, and a maintenance chargeback increase used to budget maintenance for leased properties. Staff and DGS explained the per-square-foot maintenance rate used to estimate overhead rose from roughly $4.74 to $5.17 per square foot for FY27; presenters cautioned those figures are projections based on older FY25 data and that asset-management software being rolled out should improve future projections.
Other items in the leases NDA included a small expansion of storage space for the county’s automated traffic-enforcement unit to hold additional equipment, and the temporary relocation of the Fourth District Police Station into leased space at the Wheaton Headquarters Building. DGS said the Wheaton floor will be a 24/7 operation with higher pro rata operating costs (heating, cooling, janitorial) than a daytime office and that supplemental one-time costs to outfit the space (lockers, furniture) are expected in an April amendment.
Staff told the committee there were no committee decision points on the leases NDA and that none of the items appeared to require placement on the reconciliation list; the committee concurred. Committee members asked clarifying questions about which bus-depot work was under discussion, the duration and structure of the executed depot lease, and the methodology used to estimate maintenance chargebacks.
The packet and staff said anything not spent in the leases NDA would revert to the general fund according to standard practice. The committee recommended forwarding the leases NDA and accompanying explanations to the full council for consideration.
