Politics & Government

Hyattsville Loses 450 Federal Jobs

Local leaders critical of move, saying Prince George's County consistently overlooked for government offices.

 

Local, county and congressional leaders blasted a decision by the Government Services Administration which would move 450 Treasury Department jobs from Hyattsville to Parkersburg, WV.

According to The Washington Post, the jobs would be relocated over three years starting in late 2013, saving an estimated $96 million during that time.

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"It's disappointing, to be sure," Hyattsville City Councilor Tim Hunt (Ward 3) said to Patch. Hunt's ward includes the office building where treasury employees will be vacating. 

Hunt repeated a refrain common among local elected officials critical of the move. He noted that while 25 percent of the region's federal workforce lives in Prince George's County, only four percent of the the federal government's leased properties in DC are in the county.

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"We have a really good location here that's convenient and can hopefully prove to be affordable for tenants," said Hunt. 

Similar criticism came from County Executive Rushern Baker, who said the move would only increase the disparity between the number of federal workers in Prince George's County and the number of federal jobs in Prince George's County. 

"Prince George's County has been consistently ignored by the federal government when looking for opportunities for office space," said Baker in a statement. "Any reorganization away from Prince George's County contradicts the policy objectives and goals established by…the President."

Baker noted that Prince George's County features a number of transit-oriented developments and encouraged federal officials to take a second look at the county. 

"The federal government should work more collaboratively with Prince George's County and our congressional delegation to address the widening disparity in regional federal leasing policies that have negatively impacted our county," said Baker. "Doing such not only makes sense for our county, but also for this region, economically and environmentally."

According to the Washington Business Journal, the jobs will be moving from the Treasury Department's Financial Management Services office at 3700 East-West Highway in Hyattsville near Prince George's Plaza Metro station to a Bureau of Public Debt office in Parkersburg, WV.

In a statement to the Washington Business Journal, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) criticized the move, saying "I think it makes more sense to locate more federal facilities in Prince George's County, not in other states."

The move was preceded by the merger of the Financial Management Service with the Bureau of Public Debt this past February, according to The Washington Post. The new department will be known as the Bureau of the Fiscal Service. 

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the name of new, merged bureau.


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