The Planning Board’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) subcommittee voted Feb. 20 to accept the staff recommendation for the proposed Stage 1 FY26 capital budget and the FY26–FY31 capital program, and asked that the committee’s transmittal letter to elected officials call out substantial deferred maintenance across county departments.

Emily Brophy, chair of the Planning Board subcommittee on the capital budget and program, presided over the work session. Planning staff summarized responses to citizen input meeting comments and reviewed agency budget submissions covering the five‑year program. After presentation, the subcommittee moved to accept the staff recommendation and to request that the transmittal letter include language underscoring deferred capital maintenance needs.

Members cited examples presented during agency briefings. During the departmental presentations, the Department of Public Works and Transportation reported a stated backlogged need of approximately $400 million for road repairs while currently receiving substantially smaller annual pavement allocations; property management staff noted decades of deferred maintenance; the library system described aging facilities with many buildings nearing 50 years; and requests from community groups — such as a $600,000 operating request from the Glenn L. Martin Maryland Aviation Museum and a $750,000 request for the APPE Center in Parkville — were identified as not currently funded in the FY26 proposed budget. Planning staff also noted that the County Executive had previously committed $3.5 million over three years for developing fields behind the Pikesville Armory building, but that other facility requests have no allocated funds in the proposed budget.

The subcommittee authorized the draft transmittal letter to reflect acceptance of the staff proposal while requesting that the County Executive and County Council consider the deferred maintenance backlog in future capital deliberations. The motion to accept the budget with that transmittal‑letter direction passed (all in favor).

Subcommittee members said staff will circulate suggested transmittal language for further review; the final transmittal will be presented to the full Planning Board at its next regular meeting on March 6. The subcommittee also recorded that, if additional funds become available, it would like to prioritize a short list of projects (not specified during the meeting).