Hyattsville budget would keep current tax rate

Proposed plan would fund street work, police technology upgrades

A boost in revenue this year, due to recent annexations including The Mall at Prince Georges and the University Hills subdivision, is helping to keep taxes down, Gardiner said.

‘‘We would have had to have raised taxes by just over 8 cents to get to the same revenue without annexations,” he said, adding money collected from annexed areas adds $1 million to city revenue. ‘‘It’s hard to overstate the value of the annexations that we’ve done recently.”

Other figures in Gardiner’s $16.5 million working budget — a 22 percent increase over last year’s budget — include an investment of at least $2.5 million in fiscal 2008, which begins in July, for street repaving; adding an assistant city administrator and several police officers; and evaluating how the city should spend its funds over five years.

Gardiner’s proposed figures would decrease the city’s deficit over last year, but still leave a $185,000 negative balance due in part to street work costs. Money from the city’s General Fund — essentially a savings account — will be used to make up the difference, Gardiner said.

The General Fund balance will probably be more than $2 million at the end of this fiscal year, June 30, Gardiner said.

Although the city has long-term debt for street repairs and funding the construction of the municipal building — only about 9 percent, or $1.47 million, of its expenditures is to pay debt service on bonds and lease-purchase agreements, Gardiner said.

Although at times the city has operated under a surplus, the long-term debt and fiscal projections before annexation were not good, according to city officials.

‘‘Our five-year projection was pretty bleak,” said Council President Krista Atteberry (Ward 3). ‘‘I think [to have] the things the mayor’s added ... and end up with this picture is fairly good news.”

The proposed budget also includes funding for an assistant city administrator, something Hyattsville needs, Gardiner said.

‘‘We are way understaffed,” he said, adding the council likely will bring up a motion to create the new position before the budget comes up for a vote in May. He is anticipating the slot could be filled by summer. ‘‘We are a growing community with a lot of development ... for a community of our size, I think we need an assistant city administrator.”

There has been talk of the city purchasing laptop computers for council use during meetings. The laptops would not be taken home with council members and would make it easier for city staff to provide electronic council information packets and save City Clerk Douglass Barber time.

But the laptops are not in the proposed budget because further research must be done, Gardiner said.

Also, the city should make sure more vital needs are met, said Councilman Carlos Lizanne (Ward 4). Some police cars are not yet outfitted with computers. ‘‘We need to have priorities,” he said.

Gardiner’s budget features $230,000 for economic development and funds needed to match grants. At this point, $65,000 of that money is not designated, he said.

Councilman Christopher Currie (Ward 1) suggested a separate line item for funding projects that are not part of a matching grant.

However, the city historically has not budgeted this type of money without a match, City Treasurer Robert Oliphant said.

Gardiner’s budget also increases funding for youth programs. ‘‘We have not been spending much money at all for kids middle school to high school,” he said.

The council will haggle over the details until it votes on a final budget in June. There will be public meetings and presentations for residents. A public meeting regarding the police department’s budget will be held 6:30 p.m. Monday on the second floor of the city’s municipal building, 4310 Gallatin St. The formal police budget presentation will be held at 8 p.m. during the council’s April 9 meeting.

E-mail Sarah Nemeth at snemeth@gazette.net.

Hyattsville budget highlights

$40,000 for the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department

$900,000 for technology upgrades for the police department; one-third of the force’s weapons will be replaced this year

$175,000 is proposed for vehicles for the Department of Public Works

$2.6 million is proposed for street repaving

$300,000 is anticipated in reimbursements from Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission