Committee asks County Executive to restore $3.17 million to parks budget, prioritizes volunteer coordinator and senior programming

The Planning, Housing and Parks Committee on Thursday reviewed the Maryland‑National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s FY26 request and asked the County Executive to include the full $3,171,556 needed to restore baseline park services.

Chair Friedson said the committee will send a letter to the County Executive asking that the $1,072,826 compensation amendment be coupled with additional baseline restorations to cover utilities, contractual obligations and inflationary costs. "We're going to ask for the full $3,171,556 as part of the budget amendment as a maintenance of service to restore the levels to fully cover the compensation and the contractual obligations," Chair Friedson said.

Ms. Dunn, council staff, outlined the commission’s totals: the Commission requested just over $221,000,000 in total funds and a tax‑supported operating budget of roughly $197,400,000; the County Executive recommended amounts that are several million dollars below the commission’s request in parts of the administration and park funds. Committee members repeatedly described the distinction between Tier 1 restorations — maintenance‑of‑service items the commission calls baseline — and Tier 2 program enhancements.

Pam Figueredo, speaking for Parks, described the concrete impacts of reduced baseline funding, including contracts and maintenance that support playable and safe fields. She told the committee that cuts to geo‑bond funding in the CIP specifically threaten the Wheaton Regional Park timeline: "Without that $1,500,000 we can't quite get to the $3,000,000 that we need for the Wheaton Action Sports Park," Ms. Figueredo said, and asked the committee to restore the previously approved CIP allocation.

On program priorities, Parks staff presented a ranked list of enhancements and staffing requests. The committee unanimously recommended placing three front‑facing items on the reconciliation list to compete for funding: a permanent volunteer services coordinator (pilot proved a 50% increase in cleanups and a 20% increase in cleanups in equity focus areas), $200,000 in park facelifts (committee agreed to consider two $100,000 tranches), and a nature/outdoor programming position focused on residents 55 and older. Parks also requested a GIS specialist to support an accessible park and trail map atlas required by April 2026, a bilingual outreach specialist, equipment electrification (zero‑turn electric mowers and charging trailers), a strategic planner, Active Montgomery support staff, and an inspector for hard‑surface trail projects tied to federal grants.

Planning department staff and Planning Board Chair Arty Harris reviewed planning department priorities, including a proposal to move master‑plan funding to an ongoing $300,000 annual master‑plan support line and funding for two master plan amendments (Berton‑sville employment area and Kensington sector). The planning director recommended restoring master‑plan support as a first‑tier restoration and sought partial restoration for several positions. After discussion the committee agreed to put $50,000 back into the housing needs assessment (a one‑time cost that would be supplemented by staff work if partial funding is restored) and to treat the placemaking coordinator position with a six‑month lapse rather than full elimination, putting both items on the reconciliation list.

The committee also reviewed the Central Administrative Services (CAS) allocation. Bill Spencer, acting executive director for the Commission, described an ongoing six‑month study and a projected six‑month timeline to hire a permanent executive director; the committee accepted that realistic lapse for the executive director but voted unanimously to restore plans to hire the administrative assistant and payroll manager without the recommended delays, citing regulatory and operational needs. The committee also restored the senior auditor position, citing state accountability requirements.

On the Capital Improvements Program, Parks noted a CE amendment that reduces GEO bond funding by $2,000,000 (split as $1.5M in FY26 and $0.5M in a later year). Several council members and the Parks director urged the committee to recommend restoring the prior CIP allocation for Wheaton Regional Park, and the committee made a recommendation consistent with that direction.

The committee recorded unanimous agreement on the recommendations and will forward them to the full Council for reconciliation. Several items — the $3,171,556 baseline restoration request for parks, the prioritized park program enhancements, the $50,000 housing needs assessment, the six‑month lapse for the placemaking coordinator and the CAS hiring restorations — were placed on the reconciliation list or will be signaled to the Council and the Council President for the by‑county negotiation set for May 8 for CAS matters.

Next steps: The committee will send its letter to the County Executive asking that the identified baseline restorations be included in his amendment(s). The full Council will consider committee recommendations during the budget reconciliation process and, where applicable, negotiate CAS allocations with Prince George’s County at the by‑county meeting.