by ANNA BEDFORD-DILLOW
This article was originally published by the Greenbelt News Review, and has been reproduced with permission.
Voter approval is required for public bonds in Prince George’s County. These questions ask voters to approve the county’s borrowing or debt.
Questions A to E on this year’s ballot would enable the county to borrow money, and issue bonds that total over $660 million to “finance the design, construction, reconstruction, extension, acquisition, improvement, enlargement, alteration, renovation, relocation, rehabilitation or repair of” various county facilities. They include money planned for FBI Headquarters Infrastructure Improvements in Greenbelt (under Question D) and for homeless shelters (within Question A) among numerous other projects.
Question A: $96,720,000 for county buildings. This borrowing would finance capital projects for county buildings, including a Prince George’s County homeless shelter, Shepherd’s Cove Family Shelter, Warm Nights Homeless Shelter, a domestic violence/human trafficking shelter, county building renovations and a county administration building refresh and health facilities renovations.
Question B: $17,284,000 to finance library facilities. This borrowing would finance capital projects for library facilities, including the replacement of the Hillcrest Heights branch, money for the Langley Park branch and countywide library branch renovations.
Question C: $194,380,000 to finance community college facilities. Planned use for this borrowed money includes the Southern Region Campus; college improvements; the renovations of Marlboro Hall, the Dr. Charlene Mickens Dukes Student Center and Bladen Hall; as well as the renovation and addition of Chesapeake Hall.
Question D: $311,873,000 to finance Public Works and Transportation Facilities. Plans for this money includes $131 million planned for FBI headquarters infrastructure improvements at the Greenbelt Metro Station and its vicinity. This also includes bridge rehabilitation in the county, street lights and traffic signals, road rehabilitation, transportation enhancements, tree removal and replacement, transit-oriented development infrastructure, pedestrian safety improvements and countywide unassigned planning and site acquisition (which
primarily involves acquiring land to preserve right-of-way for future highways).
Question E: $40,205,000 to finance Public Safety Facilities.
This money would be used for District 6’s police station, a special operations division facility, police station renovations, Laurel Fire/EMS Station #849, Oxon Hill Fire/EMS Station, other county fire station renovations yet unassigned, detention center housing renovations, a central control/administrative wing expansion and a community corrections complex.
Voters rarely vote down the issue of bonds. In 2020 all five of the county’s bond questions, which totaled over $506 million, were approved with only one (county buildings) receiving less than 86 percent support.
Anna Bedford-Dillow is the managing editor of the Greenbelt News Review (www.greenbeltnewsreview.com).
