In the wee hours of Tuesday, June 8, the Greenbelt City Council finally passed the budget for Fiscal Year 2022, which starts July 1. Council came very close to not passing a budget, which the city charter requires to be approved no later than June 10, until Councilmember Rodney Roberts relented on a procedural issue and moved to reconsider the budget around 12:25 a.m.
The budget anticipates revenues of $31.35 million and expenditures of $31.49 million. This results in a decrease in the fund balance of $140,000. During the budget discussions, council also talked about its intention to take ownership of the Greenbelt Armory.
Budget
The budget leaves the tax rate unchanged at $0.8275 per $100 of assessed valuation. Residents may experience higher property tax bills as property values rise. Earlier in the June 7 regular city council meeting, council agreed to add $20,000 for a grant contractor and $3,600 for an intern for the economic development director to the budget proposed by City Manager Nicole Ard. They then voted to add $80,000 for a space study on a five-to-two vote with Roberts and Mayor Colin Byrd opposed. The space study funding was increased by $20,000 from previous discussions to include the Greenbelt Armory in its scope.
Byrd then moved to add $100,000 for a director of equity, diversity and inclusion. This motion failed on a six-to-one vote. Byrd next moved to add $50,000 for rental assistance. This motion died for lack of a second. Council then adopted the budget with the changes above on a five-to-two vote with Roberts and Byrd opposed.
Unsuspended
When council added a second public hearing to allow citizens to comment on the consensus coming out of the final budget worksession years ago, they set up a situation where a procedural motion – suspension of the rules – is required to pass the budget by the statutory deadline. Suspending the rules permits council to vote on the budget ordinance at the meeting in which it is introduced, rather than the two meetings normally required. Such a suspension requires the affirmative votes of at least six councilmembers. When Councilmember Leta Mach introduced the budget ordinance for first reading and suspension of the rules, both Byrd and Roberts voted no, which prevented adoption and would have required another meeting no later than June 10 to meet the statutory deadline for budget adoption. Mach reminded her colleagues that there would be no opportunity to publicly advertise this meeting, but Roberts and Byrd were unmoved. Mach then attempted to reintroduce the motion several more times during the succeeding agenda items, but her motions were not recognized by Byrd. Roberts claimed that the two councilmembers who voted no were the winning side and only they could move to reconsider, a notion rebutted by Councilmember Edward Putens. But no one consulted the city attorney acting as parliamentarian and the stalemate continued.
Reconsideration
Roberts’ early-morning motion to reconsider the budget ordinance passed on a seven-to-zero vote. The motion to suspend the rules passed on a six-to-one vote with Byrd opposed and the budget ordinance passed on a five-to-two vote with Byrd and Roberts opposed.
Roberts has been consistent throughout the final budget deliberations. In a budget that spends all but $1,000 of expected revenues, he opposed adding any expenditure to the proposed budget. Byrd, in explaining his vote against the budget, added concerns to those he had expressed at the final budget worksessions. At those meetings, he demanded that the economic development intern be paid at least $15 per hour (City Treasurer Bertha Gaymon said they would) and that council add a director of equity, diversity and inclusion. At this meeting, Byrd stated that his vote reflected his concerns that the budget would leave a significant number of employees earning less than $15 per hour and a significant number of full-time employees earning less than $20 per hour. He also wanted higher funding for CARES and funding for rental assistance.
Armory
During discussion of the space study, council discussed aspects of its expected acquisition of the National Guard Armory at the intersection of Greenbelt Road and Southway. Council has made clear its intention to obtain the armory building. Director of Public Works Jim Sterling said that it will cost millions of dollars to renovate the building. He reported significant water damage to the building since his initial inspection. Roberts called upon council to spend the $20,000 added to the space study to fix up the building instead, to prevent further deterioration. Putens opposed this, saying he did not want to pay to fix up the building only to get a recommendation to tear it down.
Several councilmembers expressed confidence that the city will be able to acquire the building. Councilmember Judith Davis said the city would do as it did when it acquired the Community Center and seek state bonds or sell bonds to fund renovations.