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Council reviews first reading of budget amendment with $1.5M Potts Hall increase and multiple grants
Summary
At first reading the council reviewed Ordinance 03‑2025, a budget amendment that increases the use of fund balance and boosts the Potts Hall allocation by $1.5 million; staff also listed added grant revenues (ARPA, MDNR, DHCD, county funds, MEA solar grant and others). No vote was taken on first reading.
City finance staff presented the first reading of Ordinance 03‑2025 (Budget Amendment #2) on May 6, outlining adjustments to fund balance usage, expense reallocations and a series of new or newly budgeted grants.
Ron Wilson walked the council through major changes in the packet: an increase in the use of fund balance from $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 and a proposed increase in the Potts Hall line from $1,000,000 to $2,500,000 (an increase of $1.5 million). Wilson explained that the fund balance figure represents accounting difference between assets and liabilities and cautioned that it is not equivalent to an equal cash balance sitting in a bank account.
Wilson also detailed grant revenue and matching expense line additions included in the amendment packet: ARPA adjustments (a $330,000 increase cited in the packet), Maryland Department of Natural Resources funds for Richardson Park (approximately $105,726), a State of Maryland capital grant for Potts Hall ($750,000 listed in the packet), Prince George’s County support for Richardson Park ($100,000), a DHCD façade phase for 34th Street ($150,000), Project Restore 2.0 ($288,800), MEA funding for solar panels for city buildings (listed as $422,000) and several smaller public‑safety and community grants (police basement capital grant, police accountability grant, pet‑waste/grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and community policing grants).
Wilson noted corresponding offsets to expense lines, including reallocation from city hall and public‑works maintenance lines and adjustments to retirement‑planning contributions based on recent expenditures. He emphasized that several revenue items in the packet were recorded at $0 pending award and would be amended into the budget when grant revenues are received.
Mayor Benitez reminded the council that this was the ordinance’s first reading and that, per required public‑notice timelines, a vote would be held at the next meeting unless the council suspended the 14‑day rule. There was no vote on the ordinance at the May 6 meeting.
