Montgomery Parks Director Miti Figueredo is asking the County Council to increase funding for the parks department for the coming fiscal year, saying that County Executive Marc Elrich (D) underfunded the department’s spending plan in his fiscal year 2026 county budget proposal – and Elrich is pushing back.
Elrich’s budget “has slashed” the parks department’s proposed operating budget for the coming fiscal year, “failing to fund essential services or cover the cost of paying Montgomery Parks’ approximately 870 career employees,” Figueredo wrote in a March 21 letter to council President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) that was provided to Bethesda Today. “This budget underfunds employee compensation and entirely fails to fund increases necessary to cover Major Known Commitments like maintenance for new parks, debt service, and inflationary increases.”
Elrich introduced his recommended $7.65 billion county operating budget plan for fiscal year 2026 on March 14. The spending plan represents an increase of 7.4% from the county’s current $7.1 billion operating budget. The budget proposal is subject to the council’s review and approval.
Elrich said this week that Figueredo was “overblowing” what happened.
“We didn’t make any cuts to their budget and their effort to try to portray it that way is false. They asked for additional money. We gave them money for the salaries and other needs,” Elrich said during a virtual press briefing Wednesday. “We didn’t give them everything they wanted. A lot of people didn’t get everything they wanted.”
Figueredo said Elrich’s proposal for parks is $1 million short of covering staff compensation and $3.1 million below what’s needed to maintain the existing level of services.
“While these seem like small amounts in an overall county budget of $7.7 billion, these funds are critical,” Figueredo wrote. “The Parks Department consistently delivers high-quality programs and facilities and asks for only what is needed to maintain operations and provide some additional programs to serve the needs of a growing and diverse population.”
Figueredo said that if the council doesn’t make changes to Elrich’s proposal, the parks department may have to close some facilities, lay off staff members, and make cuts to “fundamental parks services” such as athletic field lighting, irrigation, maintenance, providing bathroom facilities, grass cutting and trash removal.
“The lapse of these basic services would harm communities that rely on parks for athletic competitions, recreation, socializing with friends, and appreciating nature,” Figueredo wrote.
Stewart told Bethesda Today on Wednesday that this is not the first time that the council has had to consider increasing the parks budget from what Elrich proposed.
“The County Executive has consistently underfunded the parks when we have received the budget from him, and each year, the County Council has been able to restore some of that funding,” Stewart said. “Given the budget this year and many of the challenges that the council faces, we will have to look carefully at the parks budget and see what we’re able to do, given all the other needs facing us.”
Stewart said there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding funding for the proposed county operating budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. The Maryland General Assembly had not passed a state budget by the time Elrich had to present his proposal, which presented challenges in knowing exactly how much state funding is available.
“We still don’t know what we’re getting out of Annapolis. We still have to keep a close eye on that,” Stewart said. “The revenue piece is still uncertain.”
Elrich said county funding had to be prioritized for social services and other programming. He noted the county has less “scrutiny” over the parks department as it is considered a state agency and part of the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. He said he wishes he had more control over the department.
“I’m sorry she’s unhappy,” Elrich said, referring to Figueredo. “But, you know, there are a lot of people in this community here [who] say they didn’t get everything they wanted. Most of them understood that it is impossible to give them everything they wanted, given the climate in the federal government.”
Figueredo told Bethesda Today in an email Thursday that her department will be presenting its “non-recommended reductions” to the Montgomery County Planning Board on Thursday. These are potential budget cuts that the department does not want to make but may have to if the parks budget is not increased.
