A balanced budget could be on its way to Prince George’s County after County Executive Aisha Braveboy unveiled a proposed $5.9 billion plan for fiscal year 2027 during a press conference March 12.

The proposed budget represents a 2% increase compared with the fiscal 2026 budget. The proposal also eliminates a $170 million structural deficit that has persisted since fiscal 2025.

“We were actually able to close our budget gap,” Braveboy said, citing increased tax revenues. “So, at this time, there is a zero-budget deficit in Prince George’s County.”

The budget includes $2.97 billion to fund Prince George’s County Public Schools for the next year, a 0.7% increase from the previous year. The proposal includes $84.7 million in pre-K investments, $144.1 million for Prince George’s Community College and $42 million for the Alternative Construction Finance Program, which would build eight new public schools in the county.

Braveboy said the county was able to avoid major cuts at a time when funding changes at the federal level have continued to impact the regional economy.

“We did not make any major cuts. We did look at overtime. We wanted to make sure we were getting the best use of the overtime dollars that were being spent,” she said.

Still, the county’s budget took a hit in real estate transfer taxes, or home sales, fueled by higher interest rates that slowed sales over the past year.

“Our transfer taxes went down 16.6 percent…home sales went down and reduced our revenue,” said Angela Fair-Baker, acting director of the county’s Office of Management and Budget.

But revenue in other areas of the budget continued to climb over the past year despite an economic slowdown hastened by federal policy changes.

Property taxes increased by more than $100 million — roughly 9% compared with the previous year — while income taxes increased by more than $88 million during the same period. Both categories of revenue were revised upward after being understated in previous fiscal years.

Braveboy cautioned that the county could still feel the full impact of reductions in the federal workforce, decreases in federal funding and higher costs for goods and services related to inflation and tariffs.

“We are cautious though. We don’t want to overextend our budget at this time because we’re still looking at the impacts of what’s happening at the federal level.”

The proposed budget is now headed to the Prince George’s County Council for review and approval by June 1 and would take effect July 1.

Prince George’s County Councilman Tom Dernoga (District 1) said he is looking forward to reviewing the proposal.

“We’ve only been presented with the budget brief—it looks very positive,” he said. “It’s good to see a budget that we’re not starting with a structural deficit.”

Other highlights from the budget include:

  • $1.05 billion for public safety and accountability
  • $138.9 million for health and human services
  • $204.5 million for the environment, including the Stormwater Management Fund