County Requires Donations but Fails to Collect

In addition to the charitable donations, the five contracts also called for $775,000 in payments to county funds promoting homeownership, minority businesses or affordable housing. Of that, more than $500,000 is past due, according to interviews and records.

The failure to abide by the contracts could cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funds, a state administrator said.

Maryland was entitled to some of the proceeds when the land was sold because it had invested in school sites, but it agreed to a smaller cut after county officials said the donations would help the community. In one sale, the state accepted $78,000 rather than the nearly $403,000 it could have claimed.

"We relied on Prince George's County's credibility and good faith to follow through, and as a matter of honesty, I would have expected them to do what they told us they would do," said David G. Lever, executive director of the Maryland Public School Construction Program, which oversees the sale of school sites. "It sits pretty badly with me."

He said the state would "keep our eye" on whether the payments are made and, if they are not, could force the county to repay the state its lost revenue.

Developers often pay for parks, roads or other facilities in a new community, but the donations to charities are unusual, said several officials familiar with public land sales.

"That sounds scary to me," said Jacqueline Byers, research director at the National Association of Counties, citing the potential for favoritism in doling out the donations. "That seems like something to stay away from."

Thompson said the contributions were his idea. "I believe that there should be a requirement for developers to have a vested interest in not just the properties but the people that live in the neighborhoods," he said in a written response to questions.

Among the nine intended recipients he identified to the state was the Justice and Mercy Empowerment Center of Camp Springs, which offers job training and other programs and is run by the Rev. Diane H. Johnson. Her husband, James Johnson, is the county executive's special assistant and is assigned to the Department of Housing and Community Development. Diane Johnson said her husband and the county executive attended the same college in South Carolina. The two are not related.

The center has also received $13,500 from the county executive's office and $7,500 from a grant program funded by the developer of National Harbor, records show.

Officials at many of the nonprofit organizations said they were surprised to learn that they were to receive funds from developers.

"I don't know anything about that," Diane Johnson said.

"Shut up! I never heard a word and did not get a dime," said Kim Rhim, executive director of the Training Source in Seat Pleasant, which offers employment services.

Developer Kareem Abdus-Salaam said he was unaware that the contract he signed for the former Baber Village in April 2005 called for a $50,000 charitable donation. Five months later, he and the county signed an amended contract that dropped the price of the land by $200,000 and eliminated the $50,000 contribution.

Abdus-Salaam, a Johnson campaign contributor, said that he objects to giving money to a charity "at the behest" of county officials but that he intends to meet the requirement of a 2007 contract to help three schools near a project in Laurel.

The county also has not collected a $500,000 payment from Mirza H.A. Baig, a former business partner of Johnson's, who bought property in 2005 near the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant Metro station. The money was to help police officers, teachers and other public employees purchase condominiums at the site, Baig said. But the contract set the deadline for payment as late 2007, and "the county has not asked for that yet," he said.