Included on page one of the budget signed by Maryland’s governor this week is a provision explicitly prohibiting Prince George’s County from continuing to transfer money from the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s budget.
It’s happened multiple times since last September, with more than $27 million moved by the county council into other areas of the budget.
To some, it was questionable enough that a member of the county’s delegation told WTOP it should be taken as a sign that state lawmakers are watching.
The state also told the county planning board to stop doling out grants, amid concerns about transparency. Shortly after the budget was signed, Del. Nicole Williams, who chairs the Prince George’s County delegation, explained the rationale behind the move.
“It’s not illegal for them to do it. I think we just feel as though it should take place during the regular budget process and not outside of that, just like we would do here on the state level,” Williams said. “So I think it’s just a measure in good governance and transparency.”
The Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission is funded by property taxes that come from county residents, and the money used is supposed to fund the agency’s operations and programming. County council member Sydney Harrison has voted against the transfers, and said he’s had concerns about the process behind them. He’s glad state lawmakers put that provision in the budget.
“I did not feel comfortable voting for something like this, and if we were to attempt to do this, that we should send proper notification to our state partners in the legislature outlining everything of how this money shall be used, and getting approval from our state delegation if it’s OK to do this,” Harrison said.
County Council Chair Krystal Oriadha defended the transfers, saying nothing happened behind closed doors and that the transfers were in line with the commission’s mission.
“We were requested and asked to move the funds by Park and Planning, and we honored that request to move the funds,” she said.
Harrison disputed that.
“When this came up, I never heard from the park and recreations director, nor did I hear from the chairman of Maryland National Capital Park and Planning,” he said.
“So here we are. The council is doing budget transfers, and there’s no testimony from the leadership of Maryland National Capital Park and Planning. So I thought that was very odd,” he added. “Then I knew that, because it’s governed by state law, I thought that there would have to be proper notification, written letters from the council suggesting and requesting these funds and what they shall be used for.”
He said that never happened either.
Oriadha said the money has gone to help fund mission-aligned projects in the southern end of the county — areas she feels have traditionally been overlooked for services.
“My community and a lot of communities in the southern part of the county have gotten zero dollars. Zero. Right? Not one dollar for decades,” she said. “And the reality is that it I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t advocate for my community to get their fair share, and I’m unapologetic about that. These organizations do amazing work.”
But without the letter outlining where the money was spent, and council leadership excluding him from those discussions, Harrison said he doesn’t know where the money has gone or how it was used.
“My position has always been that this is supposed to be used for the mission and the purpose and the premise of Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and because it’s not outlined or with written notification to our state delegation, it creates ambiguity and it creates uncertainty,” he said. “So I cannot necessarily understand how and where they were used.”
Regardless, Oriadha said the new law won’t have much impact on things in the county and how the council allocates funding.
“We’re still going to focus on making sure that the most underserved communities get the resources that they need, and we’ll still have the ability to do it,” she said. “So it doesn’t functionally really change anything that we do.”
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