Park and planning commission sues Prince George’s County over $39 million budget transfer

The bi-county parks and planning commission and the Prince George’s County government are in a tug of war over $39 million of taxpayer funds.

The commission sued the Prince George’s County government Tuesday in an escalation of the commission’s concerns over a transfer of more than $39 million from the commission’s budget to county coffers.

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which serves Prince George’s and Montgomery counties and is governed by the counties’ planning boards, claims in the lawsuit that the transfer, authorized via the county budget, violates state law and the county’s charter.

A spokesperson for County Executive Aisha Braveboy said in a statement that the county’s law office “strongly disagrees with [the commission’s] interpretation of governing laws and will vigorously defend the County’s interests in this case.”

The spokesperson, Brian Fischer, said funding transfers similar to what the commission is challenging have been a practice in the county for more than two decades and have benefited communities throughout the county.

“The lawsuit,” he said, “is an attempt to defund critical programs like Boys and Girls Clubs, programs to provide nutritious food at County recreation programs, and funding for cities including College Park for senior programming and the Bowie Gymnasium.”

The M-NCPPC filed the suit in Prince George’s County Circuit Court on the same day the county council finalized revisions to the commission’s spending plan following concerns raised by Braveboy.

M-NCPPC’s lawyer has alleged that next year’s county budget that contains a resolution requiring the $39 million transfer would “irreparably harm” the commission and “constitute unlawful taxation on Prince George’s County residents,” according to the complaint.

The commission is asking a judge to immediately halt the transfer of funds, which would happen on July 1, and to declare the budget and associated resolution unlawful.

The commission, which is governed by the land-use article of Maryland law, alleges in its suit that the budget and $39 million transfer are part of an ongoing attempt from the county government to divert commission funds for “unlawful purposes.”

Specifically, the complaint claims the county is attempting to “commandeer” M-NCPPC funds to then award them as grants, working around the state law prohibiting the commission from issuing grants.

The commission also claims the intended recipients of the grants violate the state law governing how commission funds can be spent.

The law largely limits uses to helping the commission acquire parkland and “regulate, operate, and maintain recreation functions, programs, facilities, and personnel in Prince George’s County as the Commission determines.”

The two parties have met in court before. The complaint cites a 1973 case brought by the M-NCPPC against the county after it sought to take control of parts of the commission.

The Supreme Court of Maryland sided with the commission, ruling that the commission and its departments, including those operating only in Prince George’s, aren’t county agencies, and that taxes collected for the commission cannot be considered county funds.

Council members first approved the M-NCPPC budget in May as part of the county’s broader $6 billion budget, but lawmakers returned to the item Tuesday after Braveboy cited “certain clerical and numerical errors” requiring correction.

Seeking to downplay any talk of tension between the council and executive branch, Council Chair Krystal Oriadha said she had been the one to initiate the second vote on the M-NCPPC budget, asking the county executive to hold off on signing the budget legislation until the council’s staff fixed a handful of “technical errors” and included “omitted documents.”

Oriadha said Tuesday that the council staff fixed their mistakes but didn’t make any substantive changes to the M-NCPPC spending plan. She said she only added the item to the council’s meeting agenda in the interest of transparency.

“It is really important in this role, in this position, that there’s a level of accountability and truth telling that just has to exist,” she said from the dais.

But spokespeople for the commission raised several concerns immediately after the council concluded its meeting.

The spending plan cuts $33 million from the construction and operation of the commission’s new headquarters in Largo, “at least” $20 million from the commission’s operating budget and $8 million from its capital budget, according to a press release from the commission.

The county budget also included unfunded new programs, the commission said, adding that the financial maneuvering creates a level of instability for the commission that could harm its long-term financial outlook and potentially lead to cuts to commission programs and services.

The release said that the county council’s initial plan contained “numerous clerical, mathematical and structural errors” that the commission identified and then shared with Braveboy and the council.

The errors were corrected in the version of the budget that the council adopted Tuesday, according to the commission.

“We recognize that balancing a countywide budget requires difficult decisions, and we value our longstanding partnership with the Prince George’s County Council and County Executive,” Artie Harris, who chairs the commission, said in a statement. “At the same time, we must be clear that reductions of this magnitude affect the services our communities rely on every day.”

The council’s final budget vote in May came after several hours of delay and confusion. At the time, Oriadha attributed the holdups to the inexperience of the council’s staff, which includes several new employees who’ve been working through their first budget process.

She said Tuesday that this same inexperience is what led council members to vote on a final M-NCPPC budget that included technical errors and omitted documents.

“Any time you have people doing the budget for the first time, there might be things that they are learning and mistakes that they can make,” she said to reporters. “I feel like we have a very competent staff that really tried, and I think they did an excellent job.”