PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. (7News) — Prince George’s County’s interim county executive on Thursday released a budget proposal that included cuts to many agencies and calls for an increase in taxes most people pay for their phones each month.

Although interim county executive Tara Jackson is proposing to increase spending on education and public safety, many other county departments would see cuts, including public works, human resources, and permitting. Jackson said she opted to propose small cuts to many agencies rather than large cuts in a single area, with the exception being the proposed elimination of Prince George’s Community Television , known as CTV.

Jackson said no jobs of people who work directly for the county would be cut under her plan; however, there is a hiring freeze in place.

But the interim county executive warned that even if her budget is passed by the county council in its current form, it will likely have to be changed due to great uncertainty about future actions at the federal and state levels.

Jackson’s budget includes spending $267 million in federal grant money for various things. But she warns that cuts being made by the Trump administration could cause the amount of federal grant money Prince George’s County receives to drop, which would force the budget to be changed.

Prince George's County officials said 73,000 federal workers reside in its borders, many of whom will likely be impacted by federal job cuts. The average federal worker in the county has a yearly salary of $126,000 versus $74,000 for non-federal workers, officials said.

Meanwhile, the Maryland state legislature is in the process of hashing out a budget that Jackson said could force Prince George’s to pay as much as $40 million extra on education next school year.

Part of that potential $40 million extra could come from the controversial "Blueprint for Maryland’s Future" plan, which was passed in 2021 and requires both the state and local counties to dramatically increase funding for education. Democratic governor Wes Moore proposed delays in spending requirements included in the Blueprint, but this week the House of Delegates voted to eliminate most of the governor’s proposed cuts, with the Maryland Senate yet to weigh in.

Because of requirements in the Blueprint plan, Jackson’s proposed budget calls for increasing county spending on schools from $909 million to $954 million. Depending on what ultimately passes in Annapolis, Jackson said county taxpayers could have to pay up to $15 million more next fiscal year for spending on the Blueprint.

Jackson said her proposal amounts to an average $2.50 increase in county taxes on phone bills. She said the average phone user pays a dollar a month now, and that would go up to $3.50 under her proposal. However, depending on their current phone plan, some residents would see a bigger increase and some would see a smaller increase under the proposal.

County officials pointed out that due to technology changes including the introduction of smartphones, revenue from phone taxes has dropped from $50 million in 2007 to just $14 million now, and the proposed increase would get the revenue up to $51 million, close to where it used to be.

Jackson is not proposing a property tax increase but instead offered that the council not move forward with plans to give a tax break to senior citizens until the following year.

Following a press conference Thursday afternoon in which Jackson spoke about her budget proposal, county council vice-chair Edward Burroughs III said he was reluctant to hold off on tax relief for seniors.

“I’m not going to support you continuing to give developers who don’t live here tax breaks, but denying the senior citizens who helped build this county tax breaks,” Burroughs said. “I get calls from senior citizens every week – if not every day – who simply cannot afford to live in the county.”

Burroughs and Jackson both said due to great uncertainty, this is an incredibly difficult year to pass a budget.

The county council will debate the budget over the next few months and is required to have a budget passed by June 1. The budget will take effect July 1, which is the start of the next fiscal year.