Policy Deep Dive: A County’s Guide To Program Open Space

In Maryland, residents are rarely more than 15 minutes away from a park, trail, or outdoor recreational area made possible by Program Open Space (POS). From playgrounds to hiking trails and waterfront access points, this State-county partnership has built a network of outdoor spaces that define daily life for Marylanders. 

To date, Program Open Space has preserved hundreds of thousands of acres and built thousands of parks and conservation area projects, helping counties and municipal governments protect their natural resources and enhance their local communities. For over half a century, POS has been a fundamental tool for local land preservation and the expansion of public access to outdoor recreation opportunities.

What is Program Open Space? 

Established in 1969 under the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Program Open Space funds the planning, acquisition, and development of outdoor open recreation space for public use. These investments have enabled the development, expansion, and conservation of open spaces such as community parks, playgrounds, hiking trails, and Chesapeake Bay water access, and assist local governments with planning for and responding to growth, meeting residential needs, and preserving their natural resources. 

POS operates under two complementary components: POS – Stateside and POS – Local. The Stateside program focuses on protecting large tracts of land for public recreation, watershed protection, and wildlife conservation through fee simple and conservation easement acquisitions. These lands make up Maryland’s network of State Parks, Forests, and wildlife management areas. Meanwhile, POS – Local provides direct assistance to local governments to plan, acquire, and develop community open spaces and recreational facilities. This structure advances statewide goals for conservation and recreation access while empowering local governments to meet their own goals and residential needs. 

According to DNR, POS has assisted more than 7,100 park and conservation area projects and protected more than 422,700 acres of land. The program has also played a major role in establishing Maryland’s Greenways, Green Infrastructure Network, and Heritage Areas. 

Transfer Tax 101: How Program Open Space is Funded 

Program Open Space is funded through the Maryland State Real Estate Transfer Tax, a 0.5% tax on property sales established by the legislature in 1969. A one-time payment made at the time of sale, the transfer tax was designed to link land development activity to public investment in parks, open-space, recreation, and natural resource conservation. 

For counties, this funding mechanism supports the mission of POS – Local by supporting the planning, acquisition, and development of local green infrastructure and open spaces such as parks and playgrounds that enhance public health, attract residents and businesses, and strengthen community identity. 

However, because the transfer tax is tied to real estate activity, revenues can fluctuate with market conditions, and legislative diversions have occasionally reduced funding. The transfer tax system renders POS funding uniquely vulnerable to the real estate market, meaning that economic conditions such as a rising interest rate or decline in home sales may reduce revenue for POS. Despite these challenges, POS remains an important strategic tool for community investment.

Recent Upgrades to POS 

Over the years, counties have made significant strides toward meeting, and even exceeding, land acquisition goals. With this, local needs have evolved regarding maintenance, facility upgrades, and accessibility improvements necessary so that already resource-constrained counties can continue to support their open spaces.

As previously reported by MACo, the MGA has responded to this shift and modernized how counties are able to use POS funding to update policies and provide greater flexibility for POS – Local allocations. HB 717 – Natural Resources – Public Lands – Acquisition, Staffing, Operations, and Funding assists local governments in investing in much-needed improvements to their local open spaces and recreation facilities. This flexibility will help counties better respond to their unique community priorities in regards to Program Open Space.

Benefits to Local Communities

In local communities, POS supports vital health, environmental, economic, and recreational outcomes. As a result of POS, counties can improve parks, trails, and open spaces that support active lifestyles, youth programming, senior services, recreation tourism, and job opportunities. These better amenities can attract businesses and residents and even strengthen property values and quality of life for residents. 

DNR describes the advantages of POS as beneficial for the “overall quality of life in Maryland and its attractive residential communities.” In communities with quality parks and open spaces, home values tend to have increased values as compared to those in other settings. Additionally, new businesses prefer these areas as a result of their enhanced quality of life and therefore tend to remain long term residents. Moreover, the historical structures, parks, and forests supported by POS are essential to Maryland’s tourism industry and continued investment in this area further supports this sector.

Ultimately, Program Open Space is an asset to advance local policy objectives such as: open-space protection, public health, recreation access, wildlife conservation, and community resilience. This tool is essential for counties to invest in their communities and conserve their valuable natural resources.

Possible Target in a Troubled Budget?

While Program Open Space is funded in a special fund, outside the State General Fund that is driving concerns about budget-balancing in the years ahead, it does remain a potential part of State-level budget reconciliation. Each year’s fiscal plan must include a balanced General Fund, and the process to do so sometimes includes adjustments to special fund programs or entities, with either one-time or ongoing transfers to remedy General Fund shortfalls.

In the 2025 session, a broad cap on local-side Program Open Space and the related suits of land preservation programs (all generally fueled through the State transfer tax) was proposed. A narrowed version of that proposal was adopted, to limit the amount dedicated to State-managed programs but not to the local side of Program Open Space.

With a mounting fiscal concern for the coming year’s budget cycle, and grave forecasts for the extended outlook, advocates for Program Open Space and its many advantages should be prepared for a debate about its priority in State funding plan, despite it nominally being outside the General Fund.

Helpful Links: Program Open Space (POS) Local Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This article is part of MACo’s Deep Dive series, where expert analysts explore and explain the top county issues of the day. A new article is added each week – read all of MACo’s Deep Dives.