Mission Statement

The mission of Parking District Services is to:

• Support the role of public parking in commercial areas throughout the County, as parking management is an important tool for achieving public objectives of economic development and transportation management;
• Support the comprehensive development of the Silver Spring, Bethesda, and Wheaton central business districts and promote their economic growth and stability by supplying a sufficient number of parking spaces to accommodate that segment of the public demand, which is neither provided for by development nor served by alternative travel modes;
• Promote and complement a total transportation system through the careful balance of rates and parking supply to encourage the use of the most efficient and economical transportation modes available; and
• Develop and implement parking management strategies designed to maximize the usage of the available parking supply in order to enhance the economic development of specific central business districts.

Budget Overview

The total recommended FY27 Operating Budget for the Parking Districts is $31,371,749, an increase of $937,530 or 3.08 percent from the FY26 Approved Budget of $30,434,219. Personnel Costs comprise 23.31 percent of the budget for 53 full-time position(s) and no part-time position(s), and a total of 48.23 FTEs. Total FTEs may include seasonal or temporary positions and may also reflect workforce charged to or from other departments or funds. Operating Expenses account for the remaining 76.69 percent of the FY27 budget.

In addition, this department's Capital Improvements Program (CIP) requires Current Revenue funding.

County Priority Outcomes

While this program area supports all eight of the County Result Areas, the following are emphasized:

• Easier Commutes
• Effective, Sustainable Government
• A Growing Economy

Program Performance Measures

Performance measures for this department are included below (where applicable), with multi-program measures displayed at the front of this section and program-specific measures shown with the relevant program. The FY26 estimates reflect funding based on the FY26 approved budget. The FY27 and FY28 figures are performance targets based on the FY27 recommended budget and funding for comparable service levels in FY28.

Initiatives

• Improve security systems and public safety elements to address high-incident/high-crime threat areas in off-street parking. Deploy additional cameras and network improvements to sustain the new cameras.

• Expansion of the EV Charging Station program in existing and additional facilities. The number of charging stations available in facilities will continue to increase alongside increased adoption of EV cars, including the introduction of Level III Fast Charging infrastructure.

• Expand Pay-By-Cell Only Zones in areas previously utilizing legacy single space meters. This service has been piloted successfully in Great Seneca, Bethesda (Woodmont), and Silver Spring.

• Add a transportation contract compliance inspector to expand field coverage, ensure contractor compliance, and enhance the safety and reliability of parking and transit facilities, with focused oversight during evening and weekend hours.

• Modernize and improve the Parking and Revenue Control System at Garage 31 by implementing digital permitting and integrating license plate recognition and pay-by-cell technology.

• Explore opportunities to partner with the Montgomery County Greenbank and/or other stakeholders to install solar canopies on garages in the Parking Lot Districts (PLDs) that can provide community solar.

• Initiate customer service surveys in all three PLDs.

Innovations and Productivity Improvements

• Expand cloud-based security cameras with integrated notification system.
• Continue to expand EV Level II and Level III infrastructure across the PLDs.
• Pilot license plate recognition integration into select off-street parking Pay by Plate facilities to better track payment records and offer automated payment reminder and/or enforcement.

Program Descriptions

  Parking Services General Administration

The General Administration program provides executive direction and support functions for parking programs that include human resources, information technology, fiscal/procurement services, and the redevelopment of real property to promote the economic growth and stability of associated urban districts. The program's responsibilities are for drafting and releasing Requests for Development Proposals,...

  Parking Operations

The Parking Operations program has overall responsibility for the management of County-owned garages and lots with over 20,000 parking spaces, which represent at least a 50 percent market share of available parking spaces. This program has overall responsibility for the collection and processing of all parking revenue, including revenue from...

  Parking Fixed Costs

The Parking Fixed Costs program primarily funds the debt service payments and the lease payments. ...

  Parking Enforcement

The Parking Enforcement program provides for the enforcement of parking laws within the Parking Lot Districts (PLDs) and Transportation Management Districts (TMDs) primarily to promote business activity, ensure public safety, and ensure the smooth flow of traffic. The program also conducts Residential Permit Parking (RPP) enforcement in all RPP zones...