Overtime costs for Prince George’s County’s public safety departments will remain limited as the County Council passed a $2.7 billion budget Wednesday.
The council has set up a $20 million “contingency fund,” scooping much of the cash from budget lines previously dedicated to police and fire overtime. The departments will be able to gain access to the dollars only through requests to County Executive Jack Johnson, council members said. Overtime for the police department was cut, except for emergency situations, earlier this year.
“We want to be certain we are closely monitoring our income and expenses over the next year so we are positioned to act quickly when the need arises for fiscal adjustment,” said Council Chairman Samuel Dean.
On Tuesday the council raised income taxes and fees associated with property sales in effort to fill a roughly $100 million funding gap caused by falling housing prices and other economic ailments.
Department heads will now be meeting with Johnson and his advisers monthly to give updates on their financial situations.
Johnson has not ruled out that the economy could continue to crumble and create a need for larger changes in the county, and Dean echoed that thinking Wednesday.
“I don’t know if layoffs are in the future. Nothing is guaranteed,” Dean said.
With a hiring freeze in place since late last year and now expected to continue through the coming fiscal year, the county could lose 7 percent of its work force as employees opt for retirement. The health department could be hit the hardest, losing as much as 17 percent of its workers through the next year.
The majority of this year’s budget, about $1.8 billion, will be spent on education.
Since Johnson took office in 2002, the county’s budget has grown by more than $1 billion. Much of that moneycomes from a $600 million jump in education spending during the same period.
