On February 14, 2024, Associate Policy Director Dominic Butchko testified before the Environment and Transportation Committee in opposition to HB 420- State and Local Parks- Play Area Accessibility- Communication Boards. This bill requires counties to use Program Open Space funds to install communication boards in all new parks and those undergoing significant renovation.
While counties have significant concerns with the current language, MACo is grateful to the sponsor for developing a series of amendments that would alleviate county concerns. Specifically, the sponsor amendments create the Maryland Recreation Communication Boards Program (MRCBP) within the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The MRCBP would be allocated $100,000 each year from the state side of POS, and these funds would be used to issues grants of up to $5000 per communication board to be installed.
For Fiscal Year 2025 the local share of POS is projected to shrink from roughly $90 million to roughly $30 million. This is NOT $30 million per county, but $30 million to be divided amongst all political subdivisions. While some advocates state that communication boards cost roughly $600- $1000 each, most counties cite a price ranging from $2500-$5000. If enacted as-is, HB 420’s unfunded mandate will further erode individual county distributions and ultimately hurt the very communities this bill is aiming to help.
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