In recent years, the Greenbelt City Council has worked out its desired changes to the city manager’s proposed budget at a final budget worksession in advance of the second public hearing on the budget so that citizens are not surprised by what is presented for adoption and have an opportunity to comment before passage.
That is not what happened this year at the final budget worksession on May 17 for Fiscal Year 2022, which starts on July 1. The public hearing is scheduled for May 24, but it appears unlikely that council will have reached consensus on its modifications to the manager’s budget by then.
Reaching agreement was bound to be difficult under any circumstances as the proposed budget revenues were just $1,000 more than expenditures. By law, the city’s budget must balance. And the city’s reserves were just 17.8 percent of expenditures, on the low side of the 17 to 20 percent recommended by Greenbelt’s financial advisors. After the budget presentation, the city learned that its workers compensation premiums are going up by $200,000 and will likely be even higher the following year.
Over the course of the budget worksessions since late March, council had amassed a list of possible additions to the budget. City Treasurer Bertha Gaymon priced these items and found they totaled $1.4 million. By the end of the final budget worksession, this unfunded wish list had swollen to $2.084 million. Consistent with past sentiments, every councilmember who spoke on the subject agreed that the city should not increase taxes.
The city had hoped for assistance from the federal American Rescue Plan (ARP). However, Gaymon and Councilmember Judith Davis reported that the program is still not well-defined and it is not clear how ARP funds could be used.
Two bits of good news were an increase of $10,000 in the city’s grant for recreation from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and a new pension estimate in the Information Technology department that is $42,600 lower than previous estimates.
Wish List
Council, especially Davis, has often chafed at the use of the term “wish list” to describe the potential additions to the proposed budget. However, with nearly $1.5 million in possible additions to a budget with just $1,000 excess of revenues over expenditures, the term seems particularly apt this year.
The initial list included eight additional employees over what was funded in City Manager Nicole Ard’s proposed budget: filling the vacant assistant director of planning and community development position ($151,000) and adding seven new positions – two code enforcement inspectors with equipment ($158,400), a CARES case manager ($77,000), a second Greenbelt Connection driver ($48,000), two CARES counselors ($150,000) and one additional animal control officer ($65,280). In addition, the list includes an intern to assist the economic development coordinator for 12 weeks for $3,600. Councilmember Rodney Roberts pointed out that adding staff creates an ongoing expense that would require funding in future years.
Other wish list items include additional funding for the armory assessment ($120,000), a study on how best to utilize city office space ($60,000), an expedited compensation study for non-classified employees ($220,000), additional housing stipend and purchase assistance for police officers living/buying homes in Greenbelt ($120,000), an updated Buddy Attick Park Master Plan process and study ($30,000) plus five items costing less than $10,000 each.
Despite this mismatch between wants and resources, the councilmembers added several more items at the meeting, mostly from Mayor Colin Byrd.
Council Changes
Councilmember Emmett Jordan pushed for adding $20,000 for a part-time employee or consultant to seek out and apply for grants and to ensure compliance with the terms of city grants. This could be particularly important, he noted, for any funds the city receives from the American Rescue Plan.
Councilmember Silke Pope added an urn wall for the city cemetery, although she was hesitant given the lack of funds for any of the wish list items.
Toward the end of the meeting, Byrd introduced $650,000 in proposed new expenditures. These included $150,000 for college scholarships, $200,000 for student loan debt relief grants, $40,000 for a summer youth enrichment program, $120,000 for a race and gender equity director, $50,000 for tutoring grants and $90,000 for a Greenbelt business plan competition to provide seed money for start-up businesses in the city. Byrd said that the city has relatively healthy reserves that could be used to fund his additions, a position that was immediately refuted by Roberts who countered that the reserve fund is for emergencies. The citizens of a small town, he said, should not have to bail out student loans. If council goes down the road of feeling that it can pay for everything, he argued, they will bankrupt the city.
Discussion
Council went around in circles with no one suggesting any cuts to the proposed budget to allow funds to be redirected toward items from the wish list. Davis said that she would drop her requested additions including $2,000 for the tree canopy support program, the animal control officer and the expedited compensation study for non-classified employees. Councilmember Leta Mach said that she would drop everything except the $4,500 to expand the tile floor pilot program at the Aquatic & Fitness Center since that could be funded from the Park and Planning grant. In addition, the funds for the housing allowance and home buyer assistance were reduced by $6,000.
Pope suggested just passing the budget as proposed since it is not known where council could find the money for any additions, saying, “We need to get our priorities straight.”
Council did not reach agreement on what changes to propose and expects to schedule another worksession to try to resolve the issue, though how they will do that is not clear. They are, however, just about out of time. The city charter requires that council approve a budget no later than June 10 and budget adoption is currently scheduled for the June 7 regular council meeting.
Even with no discretionary additions, council needs to fill the $200,000 hole created by the new workers compensation premiums.
At the time this was written, the additional worksession had not yet been scheduled. It is possible that this meeting may be advertised only online given the limited time remaining. Residents can set alerts on the city website to be notified of the meeting.
Armory
The inclusion of funds for the armory assessment stirred considerable conversation. Roberts, Mach and Councilmember Edward Putens, in particular, argued for obtaining the building as soon as possible. Public Works has received bids for the assessment and expects the issue to go before council in June. The News Review will report further on the armory in the near future.