Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks has revised her proposal for the fiscal 2021 operating budget as the economic fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic continues, with the county projecting a loss of $134 million in revenues.
Prince George’s overwhelmingly has the state’s most confirmed cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, since Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency early last month after Maryland’s first known cases were reported. The subsequent shutdown of businesses statewide and the ripple effect on the economy caused Alsobrooks to scale back the $4.58 billion budget she initially proposed March 11.
“This is a significant deterioration of county source revenues which support our core services,” Alsobrooks wrote in a letter dated Monday to County Council Chair Todd Turner. “We must remain vigilant in monitoring our revenue collections as well as the overall economic trends which could indicate a further erosion of our fiscal outlook.”
Some of the revised figures from last month’s proposed budget are:
• $86.4 million cut in income taxes ($77.4 million in receipts and $8.9 million from a state disparity grant).
• $16.7 million reduction in licenses and permit fees with the majority ($14.7 million) based on gaming revenues.
• $13.2 million in transfer and recordation taxes because of a decline in home purchases and refinancing.