The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to adopt a $17.16 million open space capital budget, money applied to the next five years, during its regular business meeting Thursday morning.
While $11 million will come straight from county funding, the authorization indicates no new money borrowed for the approved plan. It will be spending every cent of taxpayer dollars remaining from previous years, now through 2016.
According to Uri Monson, county finance director, the total amount of outstanding, remaining open space bond dollars is $11 million. And, for every dollar of county money, it will receive $1.50 in state and federal subsidies to fund a variety of projects.
“Our focus is on work and projects the county already owns,” said Monson.
“A lot of our trails that are 20, 30 years old need basic maintenance — maintenance that’s never been done. We’re trying to improve that. Some of the improvements will help private access and enjoyment in the parks. County trails have not been dealt with a long time and if you don’t do basic maintenance, you lose the original investment.”
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