Conduit Street

The Prince George’s County Council approved a $2.7 billion budget that slightly reduces funding to education but maintains funding for key school programs.  As reported by the Washington Post:

With the new budget, council members also allocated funds for an economic development fund and for road repairs, new police and fire recruits, and a one-time $750 bonus for county employees.The public school system receives the single largest share of the county budget: Spending on the schools will total about $1.6 billion, about $13 million less than the current budget.

The new budget also restored cuts that Baker had proposed to nonprofit funding. The spending plan gives the nine council members $100,000 each to hand out to nonprofit groups based in their districts; the executive branch will allocate other funds.

As reported by the Washington Post,  Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker and the County Council may have struck a deal to provide one-time bonuses to approximately 6,000 employees instead of a 2% raise that would benefit 1,500 employees.

In a 5 to 3 vote Tuesday, the council voted down a 2 percent raise for about 1,500 county employees who are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

But in private discussions between some council members and Baker, each side held out the possibility that the county would be able to fund bonuses for all county workers this year. Council Chairman Ingrid Turner (D-Bowie) signaled the outlines of the deal in a letter to Baker that discussed similar one-time $750 bonuses for state employees.

Such bonuses for county workers would cost $5 million to $6 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1. The payments would not be rolled into base pay and would not affect pensions or future raises.