There鈥檚 a lot in the new $5 billion budget unveiled by Prince George鈥檚 County, Maryland, Executive Angela Alsobrooks, but what county residents won鈥檛 find is any tax hikes.
Instead, the budget proposal that鈥檚 roughly 10% bigger than last year鈥檚 relies on bigger increases in revenue to 鈥渋nvest in people,鈥� as the county executive put it.
鈥淲hile things are volatile now, everything that we鈥檝e seen in government points to a broad and rapid economic recovery for our county and for our region,鈥� Alsobrooks said. 鈥淧rince George鈥檚 County is incredibly resilient. The economic outlook for our county is bright as we see that new companies continue to come here, jobs continue to come here, and wagers will continue to rise.鈥�
Education is getting a major boost 鈥� up more than 12% from last year to the tune of $2.63 billion.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e seeing is the largest investment that鈥檚 been made in recent memory,鈥� Alsobrooks said. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l see it in a number of ways. We have broken ground on nine new schools since last summer alone. You can expect to see that followed up by at least another six schools that we鈥檒l break ground on.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l see those dollars also go toward pre-K education,鈥� added Alsobrooks. 鈥淲e鈥檝e increased over time the number of pre-K seats that are available to students. We鈥檙e working also steadily to try to decrease class sizes. You鈥檒l see funding in areas like psychological services for students, which we know we鈥檙e in dire need of right now. Teacher salaries, we鈥檝e invested in teacher salaries so you鈥檒l see many of those dollars will go directly into the classroom, but there will be some that also go into capital projects to fund facilities.鈥�
The concerning spike in violent crime will also be addressed, with money for two new police academy classes as well as incentives to lure officers from other departments 鈥� especially ones who already live in the county. New forensics investigators will also be brought in, while the county also looks to spend money to hire new positions required under police reform laws enacted by Maryland鈥檚 legislature last year.
鈥淭he efforts we鈥檙e making in this budget to reduce violent crime are part of our broader strategy to keep our communities safe,鈥� Alsobrooks said. 鈥淒ollars that we鈥檝e allocated for our police department addresses many of the concerns that we have had.鈥�
Boosting food distribution services, affordable housing and economic development were also highlighted in Alsobrooks鈥� budget announcement, as was the environment, where money will go toward flood mitigation and beautification projects. But for Alsobrooks, it鈥檚 not the sort of beautification she wants to see.
鈥淲e want our residents to understand that beautification does not just mean litter collection,鈥� Alsobrooks noted.
She said just cleaning up a mess isn鈥檛 beautification.
鈥淏eautification is planting trees, flowers, putting down mulch. So it鈥檚 my hope beautification in the long run will begin to change our residents鈥� hearts and minds around litter and illegal dumping.”
鈥淲e would like to see the millions of dollars that we spend on litter collection transformed soon into planting and other things that will make our community beautiful and that we will begin to see a culture shift around litter and that we won鈥檛 throw it down there in the first place.鈥�
