A court hearing was held this week to hash out a money conflict between Prince George鈥檚 County Council and the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission after the commission filed a lawsuit.
Attorneys representing both sides appeared in court Wednesday morning.
The parks and planning commission said they鈥檙e against the County Council鈥檚 transfer of $39 million from the commission鈥檚 coffers by July 1, which they say is not aligned with state law.
The Council鈥檚 Office of Law disagrees with that interpretation.
After the hearing, employees of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and other supporters, including members of the County Council, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse.
鈥淗opefully, the judge will see that under state law, those funds do not belong to the county. Those funds belong to Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. No one else,鈥� said Manuel Geraldo, with the Parks and Planning Commission.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not a county agency. But people think that we are,鈥� Geraldo said. 鈥淭he money that they鈥檙e taking 鈥� it鈥檚 a raid of our budget. Because we鈥檙e fiscally responsible, we have reserves. So, the county believes they don鈥檛 have the reserves, so they want to take our money. It鈥檚 just not fair,鈥� Geraldo said.
Two Prince George鈥檚 County Council members who are against these types of budget transfers from the Commission to the Council were at the hearing as well.
Sydney Harrison of District 9 and At-Large Council Member Jolene Ivey also spoke to reporters afterward.
鈥淭his is strictly about process and what our legal authority is as a county council and what does the state expect from us,鈥� Harrison said.
Ivey expressed concern about what happened with an earlier budget switch to an administrative fund.
鈥淲e鈥檝e asked what鈥檚 become of that money, and we鈥檝e not gotten answers. And we鈥檙e county council members,鈥� Ivey said. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 know, the public doesn鈥檛 know.鈥�
Ivey said even though the reimbursement procedure for project charges is far from perfect, 鈥渨e need to fix that process. We don鈥檛 need to eliminate it by transferring the money from Park and Planning into what essentially becomes a slush fund for the County Council.鈥�
A ruling is expected on June 26.
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