Joint Committee Work Session: M-NCPPC Park Police FY27 Budget and FY27-32 CIP, April 23, 2026

On April 23, 2026, the Montgomery County Council's Planning, Housing, and Parks (PHP) and Public Safety (PS) committees held a joint work session on the FY27 Operating Budget and FY27-32 Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) Park Police. The agenda listed the session as 1:45-2:00 p.m.; approved minutes record the meeting as 1:50-2:04 p.m. Councilmember Sidney Katz chaired, and Senior Legislative Analyst Susan Farag presented the staff report. Montgomery Parks officials, Park Police Chief Robinson, and an OMB fiscal analyst participated. No public testimony or public items were included and none was taken.

Discussion Items

• Budget Context: Farag explained that M-NCPPC is budgeted differently from most county agencies, using Tier 1 and Tier 2 non-recommended reductions, so any restoration must be placed on the Reconciliation List. The County Executive's recommended budget includes about a $1 million increase for the Park and Planning budget, with no new positions. The Park Police budget is approximately 117.6 full-time-equivalent work years, reflecting 127 positions, 98 of them sworn, and 8 sworn vacancies.
• Parks and Equity Initiatives: Park Police serve a park network with more than 14 million visitors a year. Though not technically required to submit an operating budget equity analysis, the department highlighted ongoing racial equity and social justice work, including an autism engagement program at the Woodlawn facility, Long Branch community meetings with the Latino community, participation in a Juneteenth event at Cabajon Park, the 134th anniversary of the Lincoln Park Community at Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Sligo Fest, and a women's empowerment conference with Prince George's County Park Police.
• Overtime: A $30,000 overtime increase is included in the base budget. Total projected FY27 overtime is $894,000; the department spent $648,000 through March 31 in FY26. Chief Robinson said current vacancies, including five vacant officer positions, require overtime to cover shifts, though there is no shortage of candidates; hiring may be held up budgetarily by lapses.
• Body-Worn Camera Maintenance: Farag recommended restoring $1,000 for body-worn camera maintenance as operationally necessary because body cameras and in-car videos are out of warranty and maintenance costs have increased.
• Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD): The CAD item totals $212,000, of which $80,000 is included as a Tier 1 non-recommended reduction for upgrades to the current dispatch system and $132,000 is no longer needed. Council staff called the current CAD system critical, and Farag recommended restoring the $80,000.
• Ruggedized Laptops: A Tier 1 item for ruggedized police laptops requested a lower-than-cycle total of $64,000 for FY27, up from last year's $35,000. Each laptop costs approximately $5,000; the recommended replacement cycle is 20 laptops per year, but the requested amount is below that annual replacement estimate. Farag listed ruggedized laptops among her operational priorities, but the final-recorded committee recommendation only included the body-worn maintenance and CAD items.
• Testing and Other Contracts: Farag discussed $10,000 for proficiency testing services required for officer promotions from police officer II to police officer III and police officer III to police officer IV. Other Tier 1 contract increases include Blue Peak Logic, Powered DMS, and VersaTerm, with Farag recommending the underlying items for restoration.

Key Outcomes

• The joint committee recommended approval of the M-NCPPC Park Police FY27 Operating Budget as amended.
• The committee recommended placing the $1,000 body-worn camera maintenance item and the $80,000 Computer-Aided Dispatch upgrade on the Reconciliation List, amended and agreeing these are Tier 1 non-recommended reductions.
• The $132,000 CAD item was not recommended for restoration, because the department no longer needs the separate dispatch system it would have purchased. The $30,000 overtime increase remains in the County Executive â??s recommended base budget and did not require additional preservation action.
• Farag identified ruggedized laptop funding as an operational priority, but no separate laptop restoration was listed in the final recorded committee action.
• No roll-call vote was recorded; the committees reached consensus on the recommendation for full County Council budget consideration.