Hyattsville Budget Approval Vote Set for Tonight

After months of debate, the Hyattsville City Council is all but forced to approve a budget during a special session set for Thursday evening.  

That's because the start of the next fiscal year is only days away, on July 1. If a budget or continuing funding resolution is not approved by then, the city will have no authority to spend money after the end of June. In effect, it would be a municipal version of a government shutdown all too familiar to federal workers.

As a result of the time crunch, the city council will have to pass the budget as a piece of emergency legislation in order to avoid holding multiple readings of the bill which would otherwise be required before the budget would be effective. 

Revisions to the city's retiree health care benefit plans have been a key sticking point throughout this year's budget review process.

But last week, the city council directed the city treasurer to compose a new budget based around a revised retiree health care benefit plan which could free an estimated $565,000 in next year's budget.

But despite these savings, the budget measure on the agenda tonight actually sees the city taking an estimated $1.7 million out of the city's $8.4 million reserve fund to cover costs.

Tonight's meeting begins at 8 p.m. in the Hyattsville Municipal Building on Gallatin Street.