WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The Metropolitan Police Department says it is owed nearly $2 million for providing security at Washington Nationals games, and city taxpayers are likely to be stuck with the tab.

The failing D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission was supposed to pay the money as part of its responsibility for running RFK Stadium, police officials said. But the self-financed D.C. agency is unlikely to be able to come up with the money, critics said.

Since professional baseball returned to the nation’s capital in 2005, the police department has provided about 25 officers to work each of the 82 home games each season, at a cost of about $700,000 a year, according to MPD records. The Nationals agreed to chip in $175,000 a year, and the sports commission was responsible for reimbursing the police department for the remainder of the costs, police said.

But the commission’s payments lagged, and last week the commission, a quasi-public agency that collects its revenue from managing events and projects such as RFK Stadium and the Marine Corps Marathon, announced that it faced a $500,000 deficit and could be insolvent within a year.

That leaves city taxpayers holding the bag for the payments, or the police department losing out on needed equipment and officers, said Kristopher Baumann, chairman of the Fraternal Order of Police Labor Committee.

“So the citizens are once again footing the bill and getting less police protection? That’s inexcusable,” Baumann said. “I don’t understand how a quasi-governmental agency can withhold money that is desperately needed for public safety without no one being held accountable.”

The sports commission disputed the accuracy of the amount the police say they’re owed, saying the agency was working with the city administrator to resolve the shortfall.

City officials said the District is stuck with a contract negotiated by the previous administration and downplayed the loss to the police department.

“Whether the [commission] is paying it or MPD is paying it, it comes out of the same pot,” Mayor Adrian Fenty’s spokeswoman Carrie Brooks said in a statement.

D.C. police spokeswoman Traci Hughes said for three years the department has sent the sports commission invoices, but so far it has received less than $200,000.

“Ultimately, the mayor has the authority in this matter to determine if MPD receives the money, so the chief will abide by whatever the mayor dictates,” Hughes said.

Security detail

Metropolitan Police Department security at Nationals games

» Officers per game: 25

» Cost per officer: $55 an hour

» Hours per game: Minimum of 6.5

smccabe@dcexaminer.com