Council Supports Johnson Tax Hike Proposal

Faced with an unprecedented budget shortfall, a divided Prince George's County Council has endorsed County Executive Jack B. Johnson's plan to increase property taxes. The 5 to 3 vote, with one abstention, backed Johnson's request that state lawmakers change the formula used to calculate county property tax increases.

Johnson (D) told the council that without additional revenue, the county, which has imposed a hiring freeze and required all its workers to take two weeks of unpaid leave this year, would be forced to lay off hundreds of employees, including police officers.

Still, Del. Tawanna P. Gaines (D-Prince George's) said the bill will be a hard sell in the legislature, where there is "not a lot of appetite to increase taxes at this time. Prince George's has the highest rate of foreclosure in the state. People are having a hard enough time as it is."

But Johnson told the council that the county's serious budget shortfall would worsen without the added revenue from a change in the property tax formula. "The failure to act would be calamitous," he said.

The county is grappling with a $102 million gap in its budget for fiscal 2010, which begins July 1. Johnson said he would have to cut $12 million from the police department and no less than $82 million from the Board of Education if the state does not approve the legislation.

Last week, Johnson asked the members of the county delegation to support a bill that would change the property tax formula. Under state law, property taxes can't increase by more than 10 percent each year, but each county or city sets its own rate. The tax can't increase by more than 5 percent over the previous year in Prince George's.

The bill would allow property taxes to rise by 10 percent during fiscal 2009 and 2010. A taxpayer with a home assessed at $250,000 would pay about $120 more a year in taxes, allowing the county to raise $53 million over two fiscal years, county officials said.

The council gave Johnson its support on the bill late Tuesday after it also agreed to consider a multi-year lease for new office space for Housing Department employees, a move that could cost nearly $11 million over 10 years.

State lawmakers said they did not understand how county officials could ask them to authorize a tax increase while council members are considering such spending proposals.

"I'm confused," Gaines said. "I don't see how you can continue to spend when you are facing a deficit."

Johnson said the plan to transfer some employees out of county-owned buildings in Largo has been several years in the making. Under the plan, the permitting office for the Department of Environmental Resources would move from the sixth floor to the first floor of one facility. That move would displace the Department of Housing and Community Development office, which would move to 38,000 square feet of new office space connected to the renovated Four Points Sheraton Hotel in New Carrollton.

The legislation that would allow the county to enter into the lease agreement was introduced Tuesday and sent to the council's finance committee.

"People still have to have a suitable work space," Johnson said. "Those things don't change because we're in a tough economic condition."

Johnson said he hoped the council endorsement would encourage state lawmakers to pass the property tax measure. But Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard (D-Prince George's) said yesterday that she is still opposed.

"I have to listen to my constituents," Howard said. "And everyone that I talk to says no. Sometimes you have to live within your means."

Council Chairman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Clinton) and members Samuel H. Dean (D-Mitchellville), Camille Exum (D-Seat Pleasant), Andrea Harrison (D-Springdale) and Ingrid Turner (D-Bowie) voted for the bill. Tony Knotts (D-Temple Hills), William A. Campos (D-Hyattsville) and Eric Olson (D-College Park) voted against it. Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Laurel) abstained.