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City manager says Greenbelt closed a ~$3 million gap, touts $5.8M in grants and new EV chargers
Summary
City manager Samiran told the council the city closed a roughly $3 million deficit in FY2026, secured about $5.8 million in grant funding for stalled capital projects, completed eight public EV chargers, and reported $87,000 in utility billing credits; no formal votes were taken at the work session.
City manager Samiran told the Greenbelt City Council during a quarterly work session that the city achieved strong fiscal results in the most recent year and presented a balanced fiscal 2027 budget after closing "a little over $3,000,000" in deficit without significant service disruption. He said staff secured approximately $5,800,000 in grant funding to support capital projects the city has been unable to fund from its operating budget.
The grants will back projects including museum work and the long‑running Spring Hill Lake expansion, Samiran said, noting the city received a $250,000 federal earmark and has preliminary Program Open Space support for a larger request. "We're excited to have secured enough money to move that project forward," he said about the museum work.
On operational improvements, Samiran said the city completed eight level‑2 public EV charging stations at the community center and library that provide about 8 kW of charging and are available to the public. He also reported the city negotiated over $87,000 in billing credits from PEPCO after multi‑year overbilling, which he said will go directly to the electricity account to help with recent price increases.
Police and public‑safety items were also part of the update: the manager announced the automated stop‑sign enforcement pilot ran in April and began collecting fees in May and June. He described the program as a public safety initiative and said vendor projections indicated long‑term compliance gains. Council members asked for a 3–4 month data summary to assess trends; Samiran said the vendor expects a noticeable compliance change over a longer nine‑month window.
The manager reminded council that the remaining ARPA spending window is short and that staff were updating the city’s OPERA reporting so council and the public can see what remains to be spent. He said internal reallocations included moving a CIT position to full time in police and adding $15,000 to local food programming. He also said recodification of the city code and zoning integration remain in progress, with Municode expected to deliver a final draft in September.
No formal votes or policy actions were taken during the work session; Samiran framed the night as an informational update and answered questions from council about ARPA balances, vendor data for enforcement programs and project timelines.
