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Prince George's residents learned last week that the county expects a $70 million budget shortfall next fiscal year. The information was bad enough, but the delivery of the troubling forecast made it even worse.

County Executive Jack B. Johnson held a closed-door meeting Nov. 12 with county and state leaders, and asked that attendees stay mum about the gathering. During the discussion, Johnson revealed the expected deficit amount and suggested he may need the other leaders' support in seeking broader taxing authority, according to attendees.

Currently, county taxes can only be raised by referendum, so news that Johnson may have secretly discussed circumventing the county charter does not sit well with residents.

For Johnson, the meeting backlash must appear to be a double-edged sword.

His attempt to involve all levels of government in an upcoming challenge has sparked concerns about government secrecy and raises questions about his tax agenda.

At the same time, he is under fire for failing to consult state leaders in other decisions. State Sens. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie and C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist. 26) of Fort Washington are sponsoring legislation that would require school construction funding requests to be approved by leaders of the county's state delegations before being submitted to the General Assembly.

The proposed legislation surfaced after Johnson submitted a letter last week to the County Council that left out several south county schools that are in poor condition and eliminated funding to finish an addition at Laurel High School. The council put Laurel back on the list after adjusting their requests, however. No further approval is currently needed for construction funding requests sent to the state.

Muse, who represents the area where some of the removed schools are located, learned about the priority list change from The Gazette.

Information as important as a $70 million shortfall should not be learned through leaks. A better — and more transparent — approach would have been to alert leaders, make the announcement and then convene a meeting of the minds to discuss options.

The issue of taxing authority is the most disheartening. If Johnson wants to raise taxes, he should say so. If the hearsay isn't true, he owes it to residents to set the record straight.

The plan to convene a meeting of leaders is the right way to go about handling a challenging decision, however, the secrecy and tax bombshell overshadow any good intent.

The inability of county leaders to raise taxes without voter approval resulted from residents' distrust of officials. Johnson and other county leaders have suffered from complaints about questionable contracts, grant distributions and county credit card use. This latest meeting only adds to the pile of doubts.

In the end, county residents are left wondering about the future of the county's economy, jobs and taxes. Worse yet, there is the image of a leader excluding residents from the workings of the government, creating a cloud of secrecy over information that impacts the county's economy and residents' pockets.

The deficit is unfortunate but not unexpected. It seems the same holds true for lack of transparency in county government.