As required by the General Assembly since 1952, under Land Use Article §1-207 (basic requirements), §7-104 (adequate facilities reporting requirements), and §1-208 (measures and indicators), all planning commissions and planning boards for jurisdictions with planning and zoning authority are required to prepare and submit an annual report to the Maryland Department of Planning for a calendar year by July 1 of the following year.

MDP compiles and analyzes this information to measure Maryland’s progress toward meeting its smart growth goals, such as concentrating new development in Priority Funding Areas and submits a Local Government Annual Report to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1 of the same year.

Local Government Annual Report

Each year, MDP sends reminder letters to jurisdictions with planning & zoning authority. As part of this process, MDP also updates and shares four reporting templates which municipalities and counties can use to simplify the annual reporting process.

Jurisdictions should use the flowchart below to decide what type of annual report and associated planning and growth indicators they are required to submit to MDP.​ ​