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Garrett Park council directs staff to hold tax rates, apply 3% wage adjustment and fund arboretum in FY2026 work session
Summary
At a Feb. 24 work session, Garrett Park's council asked staff to keep the real property tax rate at $0.2045 and personal property at $1.00, include a 3% wage adjustment for employees, fund Arboretum Committee recommendations, continue the $15,000 compost subsidy, and allocate schematic-design funds for Cambria Park.
During a Feb. 24 budget work session, the Garrett Park Town Council provided staff direction for the FY2026 budget that included holding the real property tax rate at $0.2045 per $100 of assessed value and the personal property tax rate at $1.00 per $100.
Town Manager Barb Matthews outlined revenue constraints and recommended council guidance on personnel and programmatic priorities. The council directed staff to include a 3% wage adjustment for town employees in the FY2026 proposal (the presentation compared regional CPI-U and neighboring municipality wage adjustments as context).
The council agreed to fund the Arboretum Committee’s request as submitted: $17,000 to Account 12.1 (Arboretum) and $96,600 to Account 13.5 (tree-related activities), a combined $113,600 in tree and arboretum work. Council also directed staff to continue the household organic waste (compost) subsidy at $15,000 for FY2026; the pilot program launched in May 2023 and retained stable enrollment (about 74–77 households), and its contract is due for renewal in May 2025.
On capital priorities, Matthews said the current Capital Improvement Plan does not call for road work in FY2026; Clark | Azar has been asked to assess road conditions, and larger road and curb projects are projected for FY2027–FY2029 with an estimated cost of about $829,000 against available funding of roughly $422,000. Council provided direction to allocate schematic-design funds for Cambria Park (Account 32.6) and to identify required funding for other park and facility projects.
Matthews also presented revenue-history tables and noted uncertainties in projecting the Town’s share of State-collected income taxes; FY2025 income-tax receipts were budgeted at $550,000 but monthly collections vary widely. The council scheduled the tentative introduction of the FY2026 budget proposal for a special meeting on March 24, 2025.
