Budget Focus For The Year Ahead
FY 2025 Proposed Budget: Protecting Critical Investments
Dear Prince Georgians:
Alsobrooks
By Angela Alsobrooks // Prince George’s County Executive
I delivered my Budget Address to officially unveil my fiscal year (FY) 2025 proposed budget. Creating this annual budget requires our government to come together and think hard about our priorities over the coming year. This process requires a great deal of engagement from across our County and a lot of hard work to develop a budget that demonstrates fiscal discipline.
This year, our County is working hard to move forward with key programs and initiatives while grappling with a deficit. We are dealing with a projected budget shortfall of $171 million, and there are a few clear factors that have led us here. We face greater spending obligations. We have made a strategic investment in workers to retain top talent, and we face automatic formula increases built into programs like the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future represents a historic investment by Maryland. Students will benefit from a greater focus on schooling for generations. However, meeting our obligations under the Blueprint becomes more expensive every year. We see the long-term value of this additional investment, but we must maintain the fiscal health of the County.
Along with rising costs, we have also seen a decline in revenue. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Government took unprecedented steps to support local governments across the nation. Billions and billions of dollars in aid were available to state and local governments that had never been available before. Now that those programs have concluded, they are no longer offering aid, and local governments like ours are left with reduced funding.
In addition to this normalization process, we are facing historically high interest rates. These higher rates impact all areas of the economy, including things like auto loans, home purchases, and construction. For that matter, new construction and real estate transactions are typically a large source of revenue. This year, we have received lower revenues from Transfer and Recordation taxes, which are tied to real property transactions.
To cover our projected deficit, we had to make cuts, but we worked to make these cuts in a responsible way that protects the County. This year’s budget includes cuts to every County agency except for our Public Safety agencies and the Prince George’s County Public School System. We had to make difficult decisions to reduce some programs and initiatives and to freeze hiring for over 800 positions within the County. Most departments will see a decrease in dollars year-over-year and some programs and initiatives will face reductions.
In total, we are proposing a $5.4 billion budget for FY 2025. This year’s proposed budget represents a 1% increase in revenues over FY 2024 and our proposed expenditures are 1% higher as well. Several of our important budget priorities are outlined below. For those that want a more detailed breakdown of our budget, the Office of Management and Budget’s Budget in Brief is available here.
Education/Youth Development
Board of Education - $ 2.83 billion
Increase of $29.3 million or 1.0% over FY 2024
County contribution is $941.7 million which exceeds the required local contribution under Blueprint
Includes $32.6 million for Phase 2 of the Alternative Construction Finance program, which will deliver 8 new schools
Pre-K Investments - $50.2 million
Prince George’s Community College - $135.5 million
Summer Youth Enrichment Program - $2.5 million
Includes $400,000 from Video Lottery Terminal funding
Safe Neighborhoods
Prince George’s County Police Department - $397.6 million
Increase of $7.6 million or 2.0% over FY 2024
Includes funding for 100 new recruits
Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department - $279.6 million
Includes funding for 100 new recruits and the Paramedic Program
State’s Attorney’s Office - $26 million
Department of Corrections - $101.8 million
Office of the Sheriff – $59.9 million
Office of Homeland Security - $45 million
Healthy Communities
Health Department - $87.1 million
Includes $20.7 million in funding to support mental health and addiction and substance abuse programs
Department of Social Services - $9.6 million
Department of Family Services - $6.9 million
Includes $273,600 in funding for veterans services
Emergency and Transitional Shelters - $50.4 million
Beautification and Environment
Stormwater Management Fund - $174.8 million
Programs help combat climate change and mitigate flooding
Clean Lots Programs - $2.7 million
Programs enforce and maintain private and public lots
Street Sweeping and Mowing Along County Right-of-Ways - $1.7 million
Clear the Curb - $54.5 million
Supports waste collection and education programs
Climate Action Plan - $55.1 million
Includes funding for electric buses, bikeshare expansion, litter removal, tree plantings, and more
High Performing Government
Capital Improvement Funds for Curb and Road Rehabilitation - $20 million
Vision Zero - $67,000
Program supports pedestrian safety efforts
Office of Finance - $165,000
Includes funding for four 1000-hour positions supporting the Elderly Tax Credit Program
Office of Human Resources Management - $132,000
Includes funding for 4 public safety background positions
Cybersecurity - $3.2 million
Department of Permitting, Inspections & Enforcement and Office of Information Technology - $4.2 million
Supports ongoing rollout of the e-permitting system
Office of Procurement – $6.8 million
New office will streamline the County Government procurement process
Economic Development
FBI Headquarters in Greenbelt - $131 million
Supports infrastructure investments for new Headquarters
Blue Line Corridor - $75.4 million
Includes $45.6 million to the Department of Public Works & Transportation and $29.8 million for the Central Avenue Connector Trail
Housing Investment Trust Fund - $28.1 million
Supports new and existing workforce and affordable housing
Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council – $241,500
Supports Art in Public Places and Placemaking projects across the County
This year, we are moving forward with our Vision Zero program to help eliminate traffic fatalities, digitization efforts that make our records and processes more transparent to residents, cybersecurity improvements to help protect our data, money for the fair elections fund, and funding to fully implement our e-permitting system that is vastly improving the permitting process for our County.
We heard concerns about procurement, and that is why in this year’s budget, we are creating the Office of Procurement to improve service delivery and continue building a high-quality local vendor ecosystem. We are also making investments in the health of our community, including funding for shelters, addiction and substance abuse, and mental and behavioral health.
We want to continue to improve the environment in Prince George’s County, which is why we are funding our Clean Lots programs across the Department of Permitting, Inspections, and Enforcement as well as related work at the Department of Public Works and Transportation. We are setting aside funds for street sweeping, litter pickup, and clear-the-curb programs. These programs help remove bulky trash and compost. Thanks to a new hauling contract, we are able to expand these programs at a reduced cost to residents.
We are continuing to invest in our stormwater management fund, which is an important part of our work to make our community more climate resilient. This includes storm drainage maintenance and repairs across the County. We are also funding our stormwater stewardship grant and raincheck rebate programs, which makes stormwater management affordable for residents and businesses as well as our Clean Water Partnership to improve stormwater infrastructure and water quality while working with local, small, and minority-owned businesses.
In addition to these programs, we are investing in our Climate Action Plan, which includes investments in zero emissions busses, bike share programs, beautification programs, LED bulb conversions, tree planting, and several other initiatives that improve our environment.
Over the past few years, we have made historic investments in economic development with a long-term goal in mind, to reduce the tax burden on our residents by increasing the commercial tax base. These investments also help bring new amenities and opportunities for residents to enjoy where they live. This year, we are taking steps to protect our investment in economic development and along the Blue Line Corridor.
This includes funding for our core economic development agencies, as well as grants for local business assistance, Art in Public Places, and the once-in-a-generation opportunity we have along the Blue Line Corridor. This past fall, a lot of our hard work on economic development really paid off when we secured the future site of the FBI headquarters in Greenbelt. This project, along with all of the others we have across the County, will create once-in-a-generation economic opportunities.
In our FY 2025 budget, we took steps to overcome a large deficit. In taking this challenge head-on, we fought to protect our discretionary funds so that we could provide services that we all depend on every day. We have created greater access to education, greater access to healthcare, and greater access to new amenities that improve quality of life for all. We have seen billions of dollars of new investments in our community in a short time, and those investments will continue to pay off over the long-term.
The budget I have presented today prioritizes programs that make the biggest difference in our lives, both now and in the future. We have put residents’ needs first, exercised fiscal responsibility and protected the economic viability of working families. With this budget, we will continue to help our County grow and thrive because we know that Prince George’s County has a bright future.
Yours in service,
Angela Alsobrooks
