Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) wants to freeze more than 800 county positions, cut agency budgets and draw down rainy-day funds to fix a projected $171 million budget shortfall for the 2025 fiscal year.
The county’s hands are tied, she said. Revenue fell short of projections — again. And with each passing year, state mandates for education spending have mounted, prompting Alsobrooks to ask the legislature for more flexibility on school spending this session even as she to seeks to leverage her record on education in appeals to voters.
Alsobrooks, who is running for U.S. Senate, said difficult decisions had to be made for the $5.46 billion budget she unveiled Friday, which confronts dwindling federal aid and higher interest rates in addition to increased obligations.
The county is again dipping into its reserves to help make ends meet, but the request is less this year, at nearly $33 million, which Alsobrooks said is designed to protect the county’s Triple-A bond rating. Last year the county reached for $56 million. She also shifted spending to overcome a $60 million budget shortfall.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Lateshia Beachum over at The Washington Post
