Charles Village Community Benefits District Budget Narrowly Approved

The city spending board approved the Charles Village Community Benefits District’s budget Wednesday, but not without officials expressing concerns.

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young and Comptroller Joan Pratt both voted against approving the $982,285 budget, because they were concerned it does not emphasize residents’ desire for greater security initiatives instead of sanitation programs. Councilman Carl Stokes, who lives in the benefits district, also argued that the budget should be rejected.

"We’ve become trashcan village," said Stephen Gewirtz, a resident opposed to the district's budget.

But Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, City Solicitor George Nilson and Department of Public Works Director Alfred Foxx all voted to approve, although Nilson told district representatives he wanted to see a greater emphasis on security next year.

In the approved budget, the district anticipates spending $470,854 on its sanitation program and $409,045 on security. The security budget includes funds to pay for off-duty police officers to patrol the neighborhoods for up to 60 hours a week, and a $132,000 grant from the Abell Foundation to install 12 CitiWatch cameras.

District President Jason Pyeron and Executive Director David Hill both defended the budget, saying it was the best balance that could be struck between the district’s sanitation and security needs.

"Our budget, presently, is the best compromise," Pyeron said.

The district’s budget, which is largely funded through a surtax of 12 cents per $100 on property in Charles Village, Old Goucher, Harwood, Remington and Abell, has been controversial in recent years.

The previous two years the Board of Estimates has rejected the district’s proposed budgets because they included surtax increases that Hill argued were necessary to pay for increased security programs.