Maryland is expected to contribute an estimated $4.8 million to the more than $20 million in transportation costs to accommodate the expected onslaught of inaugural revelers Jan. 20.
Maryland’s expenditure doesn’t account for its portion of $3.5 million in extra D.C. Metro costs.
This spending comes at a time when Maryland faces a possible $1.2 billion deficit and a tense General Assembly session where additional cuts are expected to balance the budget.
Maryland, however, is not alone.
Virginia will pay $10.6 million to cover everything from overtime wages to extra buses to shuttle pedestrians across closed bridges and to and from the Metro; D.C. expects to pay $2 million.
Trying fiscal times also are bearing down on the District, which faces a budget deficit of $127 million and the Virginia locales considered part of the National Capital Region face budget shortfalls of up to $50 million each.
Maryland, Virginia and D.C. estimates — and a plea for federal help — were laid out in a Jan. 5 letter to respective congressional representatives from Govs. Martin O’Malley and Tim Kaine and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty.
The letter cites the possibility of a 16 percent increase in incoming passengers at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport as well as 300,000 airplane passengers arriving at Dulles International and Reagan National airports.
The Jan. 18 opening ceremony alone, the letter states, is expected to attract half a million people. Obama’s swearing-in on Jan. 20 “is likely to exceed 2 million,” the letter said.
“Especially in light of the severe fiscal restraints that we are facing,” the letter said, “we are asking you to work with your [congressional] colleagues to secure the additional resources.”
Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said her agency has not received federal reimbursements for past inaugurations, but by all estimates, Barack Obama’s festivities will see unprecedented ridership — and costs.
“We’ve never put this level of service into an inauguration before — that’s why we’ll need the extra money,” she said.
