Where Is the Relief? Prince George’s Seniors Left in the Cold While Spending Soars
By Barry O’Connell | The Maryland Wire
While Prince George’s County leaders toast to the New Year, many of our most vulnerable neighbors are starting 2026 with a familiar, heavy burden: a property tax bill they were promised would be lighter.
I recently received a letter from a Senior, a long-time resident who fits every criteria for the county’s “Elderly Property Tax Credit.” She’s over 65, she’s paid her dues, and she’s still waiting for the relief that was signed into law with great fanfare back in 2022.
Her question is simple: Why is this happening, and who is responsible?
The Vanishing Credit
In 2022, the County Council passed CB-29-2022, a 20% tax credit meant to help seniors on fixed incomes stay in their homes. But in a move that received far less publicity, the Council adopted Resolution CR-008-2025 last February, effectively suspending the credit as of June 30, 2025.
The official line? They needed to “collaborate” to fix implementation issues. But while the bureaucracy “collaborates,” the bank accounts of seniors are being drained.
Priorities: Monuments vs. People
The Senior’s letter points to a jarring contrast in how the county allocates its $5.8 billion budget. She highlights several “bullshit” expenditures (her words, though many taxpayers likely agree) that seem to take precedence over keeping seniors in their homes:
Political Appointments: While the county grapples with a $150 million+ budget shortfall, high-six-figure salaries for well-connected political figures remain untouched.
Global Travel: Council members have faced scrutiny for taxpayer-funded trips to Africa, justified as “economic development,” while local residents struggle to see any tangible return on that investment.
The Data Center Dilemma: Leadership has pivoted hard toward data centers as a tax-base savior, a move Seniorsnand many others argue does little for the actual fabric of the community.
A Public Park to Celebrate Two Convicted Felons
The “Why” and the “Who”
The responsibility lies squarely with the Prince George’s County Council and the Acting County Executive’s office. While Councilmember Edward Burroughs has pretended to revise the law to ensure seniors can actually receive the credit alongside other state benefits, the broader leadership has allowed the program to sit in a state of “suspension” for nearly a year.
Is it a lack of funds? Or a lack of will? The county managed to find $6 million for non-departmental grants this past cycle. It seems the money is there—it just isn’t earmarked for the people who built this county. $2.5 million was granted to Edward’s Boyfriend Romel’s Non Profit, Joan’s House and hundreds of thousands to buy Krystal’s friend a house. But none to help seniors. An unneeded DCAO position was created for Senator Anthony Muse to receive over $200,000 a year for a no show, no work job. No one is willing to say why Edward’s father was given a 6-figure no show job and the list goes on.
The Bottom Line
We are asking our seniors to choose between the pharmacy and the tax collector. It is time for the County Council to stop “studying” the implementation of the tax credit and start applying it.
The Maryland Wire will continue to follow the paper trail on where your tax dollars are going if they aren’t going back to the taxpayers.
The U.S. doesn’t care about seniors, kids, disabled, single parent households, sick or vulnerable. I guess that extends to Maryland counties. Property tax bills should be non existent for anyone over 70 in an owner occupied house.