Committee recommends 7.5% fee increase for community use of public facilities to shore up CUPF reserves

The Education and Culture Committee recommended a 7.5% increase in permit fees for community use of public facilities, forwarding the item to the full County Council as a reconciliation request.

Chair Will Jawando opened the session and framed the agenda, saying the committee would review community use of public facilities alongside libraries and the first of four sessions on the MCPS operating budget. Jonelle Burwell, the newly introduced director of the county's Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF), presented staff analysis, describing CUPF as a non-tax-supported enterprise fund whose revenues come largely from facility rental fees. "These fees and charges are designed to recover costs," Burwell said, noting FY27 projections show a modest increase in expenditures and a larger increase in revenues tied to proposed fee changes.

Staff highlighted that CUPF has relied heavily on beginning fund balance since the pandemic and that the fund balance dropped into a projected negative for FY26 without additional revenue. The presentation summarized a 2024 consultant study that recommended a large one-time increase (about 30%) and described the executive's tiered proposal for FY27, which combines moderate increases for in-county users with larger increases for out-of-county permit holders.

Council staff presented alternative scenarios: no increase (which staff said would deepen a negative fund balance), a flat 5% across the system (staff's recommended compromise) and a flat 7.5% (the Interagency Coordinating Board's recommendation). Staff noted the 7.5% scenario meets projected resource needs over a six-year projection while the 5% option risks slipping back into negative reserves within the planning horizon.

Committee members debated the fiscal trade-offs. One member said a lower increase would "dampen" the ability to rebuild reserves and underlined that reimbursements to Montgomery County Public Schools and other operating costs are rising annually. Members also acknowledged potential pain for nonprofits and residents and framed the change as a staged approach rather than a single, large spike.

After discussion a committee member moved to include the 7.5% increase in the reconciliation resolution. The three-member panel voted in favor and agreed to forward the committee recommendation to the full Council.

What comes next: The recommendation will be considered by the full County Council; if approved, staff said it could be implemented in stages with further review of MCPS reimbursements and program-level subsidy efforts such as the Facility Fee Assistance Program and Community Access Program, which CUPF proposed to retain at current funding levels.