The Prince George's Budget Is Relatively Sound

PRINCE GEORGE'S County Executive Jack B. Johnson's budget is sobering but unfinished. It calls for hundreds of layoffs and deep cuts to county services, painful reductions that could be eased by two revenue-generating bills pending in the state legislature.

The county's fiscal 2010 shortfall -- before factoring in further possible reductions in state aid, about $113 million out of a $2.58 billion budget -- is less severe than those of other area jurisdictions. That's a testament to Mr. Johnson's responsible management of the county's finances. Mr. Johnson plumped up the county's rainy-day fund to secure a Triple-A bond rating, and focused dollars on the essentials: About 80 percent of the budget funds schools and public safety, compared to less than 70 percent in Montgomery County.

Mr. Johnson's budget would shear 3.7 percent from schools, 3.4 percent from libraries and 11.5 percent from human services. The county would impose 10 days of unpaid furloughs on county employees and do away with all pay increases. Overall, county spending would fall by 3.5 percent, the steepest decline in more than a decade.

The announcement that grabbed the most attention, however, was that the county would eliminate 300 jobs, including 170 in public safety. County and union officials questioned whether it's wise to cut public safety jobs at a time when the county is making inroads against crime. They point out that the layoffs would save only $20 million, or 0.77 percent of the county's budget.

Some officials say that Mr. Johnson presented a budget that included such high-profile reductions as the public-safety job cuts to improve the chances of legislation that would circumvent the county's limit on raising property taxes. One bill would allow the county to withdraw $60 million over two years from a surplus accrued by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The other would allow the County Council to shift school bus funding to the Washington Suburban Transit District, a roundabout way of raising the county's transit tax. The bills could bring in more than $50 million per year for the county.

Mr. Johnson is right to pursue additional revenue when the alternative is lost jobs, but he should do a better job of explaining the bills. Prince George's residents have long been skeptical of how county officials spend tax dollars, and it troubles some that Mr. Johnson complained about a shortage of revenue, then seemingly stumbled upon $60 million in surplus park and planning funds. It doesn't help public perception that Mr. Johnson is championing an expensive new soccer stadium for D.C. United in the midst of the crisis.