State Faces Budgetary Shortfalls, Recommends Borrowing Increase
While Maryland ended the last fiscal year with a $555 million surplus, reduced economic activity and less income tax revenue than projected have raised some concerns among statehouse leaders and budget forecasters of an ever-growing gulf between revenues and spending.
Gov. Wes Moore warned of budget deficits earlier this year at the Maryland Association of Counties summer gathering (MaCO).
“My administration has spent the last seven months looking under the hood of our state’s fiscal health, and we’ve learned some harsh truths,” he said during the conference in August. “Our budgets have gotten bigger over time, but our economy has not kept pace. Since at least 2017, the Department of Legislative Services has been forecasting structural budget deficits. Those projections were made under the last administration, not this one. Those are their numbers, not mine. The trouble beneath the surface was masked by federal cash and big stock gains during COVID. But we knew it wouldn’t last forever.”
Maryland is required to pass a balanced budget every legislative session. This year’s budget is roughly $418 million short, which will necessitate changes in taxation, spending, borrowing or some combo thereof. It is projected that Maryland may face a $1 billion budget shortfall by 2028, with the Blueprint for Education representing a large portion of the projected additional costs. A state fiscal panel recommended over $500 million in additional borrowing to help balance the budget and ensure the state has the necessary finances to weather a potential recession or government shutdown.
“We simply cannot ignore what is happening with the federal government,” said state Treasurer Dereck E. Davis. “I do not know how many times we’re going to have to keep reliving this national nightmare.”
Former Prince George’s County Councilmember Derrick Leon Davis (not the current state treasurer), said budget shortfalls will not likely fall too heavily on Prince George’s County; however, that doesn’t mean the county has nothing to worry about.
“We’ll have enough of our own issues to deal with per my reading of our local Spending Affordability Letter,” said Derrick Leon Davis. “With our matching responsibility for The Kirwan Blueprint to Education reaching the scheduled $100 million-plus this year, relatively flat to declining local revenues will be a significant challenge,”
He recommended that the county bolster the local economy by promoting tourism and entertainment through improved transit and a state-of-the-art stadium for the Washington Commanders near the National Harbor.
City of District Heights Acquires Marlboro Pike Land
In the first time the municipality has gone that far outside its limits, District Heights has acquired 1.4 acres of adjoining land on the Marlboro Pike corridor. This acquisition is occurring as District Heights gears up its economic development plans with the goal of attracting and retaining businesses in the Marlboro Pike corridor.
The new plans will facilitate redevelopment of aging commercial building stock, enhance workforce and job development opportunities for residents, and establish District Heights as an Inner Beltway leader economic opportunity.
“The growth, expansion, and future of District Heights is intrinsically tied to the redevelopment and success of Marlboro Pike,” according to a city press release. “City presence on Marlboro Pike will allow the municipal government to further support regional interconnectivity and development initiatives planned for the Silver, Blue, and Green Metrorail line corridors in Prince George’s County.”
The Marlboro Pike Partnership was announced in late May 25 of this year, a community development corporation founded out of bi-monthly meetings hosted by Sharp and Bishop McNamara High School President and CEO Dr. John Barnhardt to identify needed improvements along Marlboro Pike.
Community Development Corporations are nonprofits that can aid fund revitalization and improvements in the community that typically are done by for-profit developers. These corporations can receive funding from both public and private sources.
“We want to raise the standard of living by revitalizing Marlboro Pike, improving commercial experiences and creating empowerment opportunities for residents in safe and walkable communities,” said Partnership President Ashley N. Sharp at the time of founding. “Our purpose for starting the Partnership is to create meaningful engagement with local business and property owners, elected officials, government agencies, places of worship and other like-minded nonprofits.”
Local Residents Protest Carryout’s Careless Grease Dumping
A Hip Hop Fish and Chicken located just outside of the District Heights municipal boundaries was temporarily closed following reports of waste being dumped behind the restaurant.
The restaurant was allegedly dumping both grease and sewage that was trailing into the sewer, leaving a terrible odor and a magnet for pests.
When asked questions about the dumping by WUSA9, a store representative claimed it was water runoff from a sink. The stains from the runoff left deep stains in the concrete and an odor remained even hours after it was drained.
The establishment has reopened since closing on Oct. 13.
