Good morning.
On behalf of my Council colleagues, thank you for joining us today for the
adoption of a new $4.5 Billion-Dollar County Budget for Fiscal Year 2024.
As Council
Chairman, I am honored to again lead this body through our budget process, the
first for this 11-member Council, and I want to thank my colleagues along the
dais – My leadership partner, Vice Chair Wala Blegay; Council Members Mel
Franklin, Calvin Hawkins, Wanika Fisher, Eric Olson, Ingrid Watson, Jolene
Ivey, Krystal Oriadha, Ed Burroughs, and Sydney Harrison, and, for their hard
work, diligence and determination. My colleagues engaged in detailed oversight,
asking numerous probing questions of agency officials seeking to ascertain
where we could improve or better focus services for County residents.
As I have
remarked previously, this Council has been “moving forward in bold new
directions,” and our People’s Agenda has been working hard to achieve that,
passing legislation that addresses our priorities for transparency in our
government; increased services for residents; preserving green space,
protecting our environment and planning for climate change; supporting smart
and quality development; increasing opportunities for local, minority-owned
businesses and nonprofits; and bringing quality healthcare to the
community.
We thank our
residents for participating in our budget process and I want you to know that
we listened as you consistently shared the issues and concerns you believe
should be the focus of our County’s tax dollars. To move forward and fully initiate the changes
our residents need, this Council’s legislative initiatives addressing those
issues must be funded.
My colleague,
Council Member Oriadha, has often said, “If you want to know what is important
to your elected leaders, look at the budget.”
When the
Council received the County Executive’s Proposed Budget in March, we were
pleased with the focus on investing in education and public safety, and to see
strong investments made in the Department of Permitting, Inspections and
Enforcement and in storm water management.
Over the last
few months, guided by the core tenets of the People’s Agenda, Council Members,
as a body and in our respective districts, have been digging in to ensure that
Council priorities – your priorities – were reflected in the final spending
plan.
Earlier this
month the Council received word that the income tax revenue for Fiscal Year 24
would be $60 million dollars lower than initially projected – disappointing
news for everyone.
With disappointment,
and despite our best efforts, today we are approving a County Budget with
serious concern that so many of these priorities are not addressed. In particular, we are disappointed that the
Administration is not yet prepared to support directly a Guaranteed Basic
Income pilot program advocated by Council Member Oriadha, or Vice Chair
Blegay’s Healthy Restaurant program that would highlight small businesses
striving to address health disparities in our County. Also of concern is the
failure to fund various public programs aimed at reducing violence in our
County.
Of course, we
have to acknowledge the current fiscal climate, but at the same time, it is
important to recognize over the 5 years that I have been here, our reserves
have grown by about $125 million, to almost $600 million. Sometimes, it is
better to appreciate expenditures as being investments that will pay future
dividends.
Given the
economic climate that communities across our nation, including Prince George’s
County, are grappling with, very tough decisions had to be made. Despite an inability to fund parts of
People’s Agenda legislation, I want our residents to know that we have
delivered as much as we could under the circumstances.
Among some of the Council initiated
budget enhancements:
Libraries
are an essential component of our comprehensive education, and we are very
pleased that we could augment expanded hours and the Books from Birth, a program to
get books into the homes and hands of every young child in the County.
It is
appropriate that the County’s second-largest revenue commitment targets public
safety improvements. Recognizing the critical role of our fire department, over one
million and three-hundred-thousand dollars have been allocated for additional
firefighter positions.
The Commission
for Individuals with Disabilities has also expressed the need to increase
awareness and provide learning resources for law enforcement concerning
intellectual, developmental, and physical disabilities. As a result, the Council
has set aside funding for disability
training for public safety officials.
And in support
of our County’s young people and public safety, funding has been made available
to support Police Explorers, designed to introduce young adults to a career
in law enforcement. The Office of
the Sheriff will also receive a two hundredand-fifty-thousand-dollar
investment for recruitment and replacement of weapons.
Council Member Oriadha has secured two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to support the Camera Incentive Program, also known as the Jayz Agnew Law, named in honor of 13-year-old Jayz Agnew, who was fatally shot in front of his home while raking leaves. This program allows businesses and homeowners to purchase and install cameras to support law enforcement in their efforts to address and solve crime in our communities.
Understanding
the need to support our most vulnerable populations, Council Members saw the
need to support the Shepard’s Cove Emergency Shelter. We have added two hundred
and seventy-five thousand dollars to the budget to increase the capabilities of
United Communities Against Poverty to continue their support of women and
children.
ISLA, the
Immigration Services and Language Access Initiative will also see a $125
thousand-dollar increase.
We are also
responding to residents, who for years have advocated for safer streets,
accessible pathways, and road improvements. The Council has allocated $2.1
million dollars for additional streetlights and traffic signals, along with
$4.5 million for curb and road rehabilitation.
Other areas
that received Council attention in the final spending plan include funding for
noise enforcement and the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council. An
additional $3 million dollars will be provided for grants to support various
community organizations.
In closing, I
want to again offer my personal and grateful acknowledgment to the members of
this body for their spirited energy during this first budget season of the
term. I also want to thank the
tremendous work of the Legislative Branch staff, led by Council Administrator
Jennifer Jenkins, and including Josh Hamlin leading the Budget and Policy
Analysis team and Turkeesa Green of Audits and Investigation, for their
tireless work to guide us through this budget process.
This budget
year has been challenging, but we are already working to ensure that next year
will more fully meet the needs of Prince Georgians. This Council is committed to the
collaborative work we are accomplishing on behalf of the “people” of Prince
George’s County.
We sincerely thank every partner for their leadership and committed service to our residents.