Annapolis council debates parking, harbor and records fees and begins FY2027 budget review

The Annapolis City Council met in special session on June 1 to take up a package of FY2027 budget and fee changes. Mayor Lauren Litman and council members moved through a long agenda that included contested parking rate increases, harbor fee adjustments, a change in how the city charges for public-records requests, and the opening round of the city's spending plan.

Councilmembers adopted several amendments to R1026, the FY2027 annual fees schedule, after extended debate over parking and concession-area (Medco) garage charges. Director Marcus Moore of Transportation and Parking described a proposed across-the-board parking adjustment to help cover operational deficits; council members pressed for site-specific changes and a compromise amendment to lower the ParkPlace maximum daily rate, which the council approved. Alderman Huntley successfully moved to remove a set of concession-area increases tied to the Hillman garage so staff and the concessionaire can address contract questions.

Harbor and marine fees also changed. The council approved an increase in the Truxton boat-launch annual pass from $75 to $100, a revised daily mooring rate, and debated whether Truxton and Tucker Street passes should be interchangeable. Deputy City Manager Jackie Guy told council that Truxton is encumbered by a DNR grant and cannot be split between resident and non-resident pricing, while Tucker Street is not grant-encumbered.

On public records, the council revised how the city charges for Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA/PIA) requests, moving away from a single fixed fee toward charging an hourly rate based on the employee who does the work with the first two hours free for inspection. After questions about fairness and whether to publish department hourly rates, council struck a fixed $35/hour figure and replaced it with the language "hourly rate of the employee," retaining a first-two-hours-free rule. Council also asked staff to publish guidance on how requesters will be notified before fees are assessed.

Council members and staff made a number of technical "law office" edits to the fee schedule to add fees that were authorized by prior ordinances but never codified, and to clarify where fees belong in the code.

The group moved on to the FY2027 budget ordinance (R0826) and the related fine schedule. Committee members proposed dozens of staffing and one-time pay-for changes; council members debated many items on the floor and voted on a large set of amendments. Highlights:

- Parking and transportation: Council approved a $100,000 pilot to add a peak-hour bus route in the Rever Road/Annapolis High School corridor (pilot scope to be defined), after trimming an initial larger proposal to a smaller, time-limited pilot and directing staff to detail funding and metrics.

- Short-term-rental enforcement: The council raised the fines for unlicensed short-term rental operations and set higher per-day penalty levels intended to make persistent unlicensed rentals economically unattractive; members asked planning staff to return with the operational steps needed to administer daily fines and to cap the maximum fine at state law limits.

- Employee positions and one-time items: Council debated, partially funded, or deferred many proposed positions and pilots. Among the actions approved in whole or in part were funds to expand tree-planting capacity (an urban-tree program position that will be drawn from the watershed restoration fund), modest pilot funding for wayfinding/streetscape items, and targeted one-time grants for community groups. Several larger recurring staffing requests were deferred for follow-up review, or converted into time-limited pilots pending more detailed cost and implementation plans.

- Budget calendar: The council voted to amend and postpone final adoption of the FY2027 fee and budget resolutions until the regular June 8 meeting so administration can reconcile edits and provide clarifications requested on the floor.

What this means for residents

- If you park in a city garage or on-street concession area, some rates will increase and some site-specific reductions were adopted (for example, ParkPlace). The council asked staff to post clearer, user-friendly tables so drivers can see the new rules in effect. - Boaters will see higher Truxton annual passes and changes to mooring fees; the council asked the Harbor's office to return with more detail on interchangeability between ramps. - People filing PIA requests should expect the first two hours of staff review to remain free; for complex requests charges will be based on the hourly rate of the staff doing the work, with additional process guidance to be published. - The FY2027 budget remains under active negotiation. Council members adopted a number of targeted pilots and one-time expenditures but postponed final passage to allow staff to reconcile technical edits and answer follow-up questions about recurring personnel costs.

What's next

The council will reconvene June 8 to finish second-reader business and take final votes. Staff were asked to return with more detail on several items: the parking concessionaire (Medco) impacts, PIA implementation guidance, the Rever Road transit pilot scope and funding source, and a multi-year picture of recurring personnel costs tied to the positions discussed on June 1.

The clerk will post the final revised fee schedule and those staff clarifications ahead of the June 8 meeting.

Speakers quoted in this article are attributed to on-the-record remarks made at the June 1 meeting. Representative quotes: Director Marcus Moore on parking: "We're looking at the increase in all the parking assets...to help offset the deficit of needed funds for operation of transportation." Deputy City Manager Jackie Guy on Truxton: "You cannot charge different fees there for residents and non-residents because it is a DNR funded grant." City Attorney on PIA fees: "The first two hours are free...the hourly rate should be the employee's hourly rate."