Prince George's County Council Public Hearing on FY 2027 Budget – May 4, 2026
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Prince George's County Council Public Hearing on FY 2027 Budget – May 4, 2026
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.
Public Comments & Testimony
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:
- Education Funding (PGCPS): Numerous speakers urged the Council to fully fund the Board of Education's request for an additional $50 million (beyond the $20 million proposed by the County Executive for special education). Speakers included educators, parents, students, and community members. They highlighted the impact of cuts on class sizes, special education services, language immersion and IB programs, teacher staffing, and school facilities (citing an electrical fire at Cesar Chavez Elementary, vermin, mold, and aging infrastructure). Specific speakers: Dr. Donna Christie (PGCEA President) stated the funding shortfall is $30 million after $146 million in cuts; Dr. Annette Jones (PGCEA Vice President) asked for the full $30 million; Piper Kerr (8th grade student) urged full funding; Timothy Meyer argued the county could raise an extra $30 million through a 0.1% income tax increase. Many others echoed these points.
- Animal Welfare: Melissa Schweisguth, Lea Shuler, Amy Pergosky, and Jennifer Wells advocated for increased funding for the county animal shelter, including spay/neuter programs, after-hours staffing, and facility improvements (e.g., removing rocks from play yards).
- Nonprofit & Community Grants: Representatives from Liberty's Promise (Dr. Robert Ponichtera and several students) requested restoration of a $130,000 non-departmental grant cut for two consecutive years. Yolanda Johnson (CASA Prince George's County) requested support to reduce a waiting list of 40 youth. Ruby Stemmle (Ecolatinos) and Dr. Teresa Ramirez requested grant funding for environmental training and youth summer camps. Edda Richmond (Passion and Compassion) urged food security funding. Kit Slack (Streetcar Suburbs) requested a $60,000 grant for local news.
- Disability Services: Jamia Caraway, Jacqueline Randall, and Tina Teasley (speaking with photos) urged increased funding for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and services for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. They requested raising DSP funding from $4.6 million to $6.9 million.
- Environmental & Infrastructure: Gyasi Gomez (Sierra Club) recommended shifting mowing funds to native vegetation, accelerating green street implementation, and addressing Brandywine Landfill contamination. Many speakers requested road resurfacing, trail construction, and park improvements.
Key Outcomes
- The public hearing was declared held after all registered speakers testified.
- Legislative Attorney Leroy Maddox read into the record a list of potential Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects for each district (including school rebuilds, road resurfacing, park facilities, and library feasibility studies) – this step is required by charter to allow future negotiation; inclusion does not guarantee funding.
- No votes were taken on the budget itself. The meeting adjourned at 8:33 PM by unanimous motion (Vice Chair Olson motioned, Council Member Dernoga seconded).
- The Council will now deliberate and adopt the final FY 2027 budget following the public hearing process.
Meeting Transcript
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.
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