Politics & Government

Prince George's Budget Proposal Includes Furloughs, Force Reduction

County Executive Rushern Baker's $3.2 billion dollar proposed budget represents a 0.6 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2013.

Prince George’s County employees could see five-day furloughs, a reduction in workforce, and incentivized early retirement if County Executive Rushern Baker's proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2014 is approved by the county council.

Facing a $152 million budget gap, Baker said that this was the county’s toughest fiscal year yet. 

“In order to continue to move our great county forward, we had to address and begin looking at how we would focus our resources in a new and different way,” Baker said in a statement.

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The county executive's $3.24 billion dollar budget also increases funding to the state’s attorney’s office to support the gun and drug unit and includes money to add more than 100 new public safety employees in the police and fire departments. 

The proposed budget was presented to the Prince George’s County Council Thursday for its review.

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County council chair Andrea Harrison released the following statement:

Working together with County Executive Baker and all stakeholders, including our residents and employees, to achieve a FY 2014 fiscal plan that addresses the priority issues that concern all of us—Transportation; Economic Development/Transit-Oriented Development; Healthcare; Education; and Public Safety—the Council will continue our commitment to a conservative fiscal approach.

The county council is required to adopt the FY2014 budget no later than June 1, 2014. 


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