Prince George's residents will see hike in income taxes, real estate fees

Prince George’s County (Map, News) - Income taxes and real estate fees will go up slightly to cover a projected $121 million gap in the budget proposed by Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson Monday.

The $2.67 billion budget, a 1.3 percent increase over last year’s, is a “barebones” budget brought on by economically tough times, Johnson said. Revenue has dropped significantly as the rate of home sales plummeted by 50 percent in 2007 and a state budget shortfall caused the county’s state aid to sink by $53.3 million.

Johnson has proposed shoring up the county’s looming budget crisis by raising income tax to 3.2 percent from 3.1 percent, adding $6.5 million to the county’s coffers and raising the recording fee imposed during home sales to $2.50 from $2.20 per $500 of the transaction, adding $5.4 million.

The Board of Education’s $1.68 billion budget request, a $23.7 million increase over last year and representing about 63 percent of the total budget, would be fully funded. The Police Department would add $23.2 million, or a 9.5 percent increase, to its $244 million budget.

Meanwhile, a hiring freeze initiated earlier this year would continue through the next year, saving about $6 million as jobs vacated during the year remain unfilled. However, the Police Department, and other public safety agencies, will continue to hire, with an additional 76 police officers authorized for the coming year.

Included in the proposal are $12 million for the county’s ailing hospital system, as promised in a plan announced earlier this month with Gov. Martin O’Malley.

The proposed budget assumes the economy will not get any worse, Johnson said. And if it does, “we’ll look at where we are in terms of expenditures and we’ll see where public safety is.”

fklopott@dcexaminer.com