This was the second and final public hearing on the proposed FY 2027 Operating Budget, Six-Year Capital Program (including the Capital Improvement Budget), the Prince George's County Board of Education portion of the FY 2027 Operating Budget, the proposed budgets of the Redevelopment Authority and Revenue Authority, and the Constant Yield Tax Rate. The hearing was convened at 6:18 PM and concluded at 8:33 PM, with 8 of 11 Council Members present. Chair Krystal Oriadha presided.
Over 60 individuals signed up to speak, with a two-minute limit per speaker. Testimony focused overwhelmingly on education funding, along with requests for animal welfare, nonprofit grants, environmental programs, and disability services. Key positions included:
All righty. We have reconvened. Today is Tuesday. Is today Tuesday? Monday. No, I was gonna say says Tuesday, but I'm like, I don't think so. Today is Monday, May 4th, uh, 2026. This is a business meeting. We have our public hearing, Prince Rose County proposed FY 2027 operating budget six-year capital program, including the capital improvement budget and the Prince Georgia's County Board of Education portion of the County FY 2027 operating budget, proposed budget of the redevelopment authority and revenue authority of Prince Georges County and the constant yield tax rate. So I just want to welcome everyone to this public hearing. The time limitation is two minutes per speaker has been imposed. There will be no relinquishing of the time by one speaker to another. Written statements may be submitted for the record in addition to or in lieu of verbal testimony, written testimony or comments will be accepted in electronic format rather than by U.S. mail via the council's e-comment portal for those unable to use the portal comments um written correspondence may be emailed or facts to 301952 517A, excuse me, 78 comments should be addressed to the Honorable Chris Orya, the chair of Prince Royce County Council, Wayne K. Curry Administration Building 1301 McCorm McCormick Drive, Largo, Maryland, 2077 4. Uh, I would like to start by um an introduction of the council members. I'm Councilman Chris Sorieba. I have the pleasure of representing District 7 and the honor of serving as chair of the county council this year. Next, we'll have um the vice chair and other members introduce themselves. Good evening, Eric Olson, Vice Chair uh representing district three, Edward Burroughs, County Council District 8. Timothy Adams, County Council 4, Sydney Harrison County Council District 9, and I want to thank everyone for being here this evening. Thank you so much for testifying tonight. Uh welcome everyone. Thanks for coming. Tom Dernoga, Council District 1. Hi, Jolene Ivey at large. All right, thank you. Uh and again, thank you all for being here today. We look forward to you being part of the uh budget process with us. We are going to start with the speakers list. If this is your first time joining us, there will be a timer that's in front of you. It'll have the two minutes on there, and it will gently make a little noise that lets you know it's over, and then I will do my best to gently ask you to stop so that we can move on to the next speaker. But as I mentioned, you can always turn in additional comments in writing. Um, I would like to start with Donna Christie from PGCPA. Good evening, Madam Chair and members of the council. I am Dr. Donna Christie, president of the Prince George's County Educators Association, representing nearly 10,000 educators. This is Educator Appreciation Week. And across this county, educators will be thanked, as they should be. But let's be clear about something. A thank you does not reduce class size, a thank you does not hire staff, a thank you does not meet special education requirements. Only funding does that, and right now the funding is short, 30 million dollars. After 146 million dollars in cuts, there is nothing left to trim without cutting into the core of school operations. What remains are decisions that directly affect classrooms, staffing, and legally required services. So let's call this what it is. This is not a question of need, the need is clear. This is a question of will. The question is whether you will act like it. Find the 30 million dollars because appreciation without action is just noise. And people are paying very close attention to what you choose to do when it matters.