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Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) celebrated the actions of the Maryland General Assembly Tuesday, saying it delivered for the county in a difficult budget year.

The legislature agreed during the 90-day session to changes that could net the county government an additional $22 million per year, make it harder for restaurants to stage live entertainment without police permission and, as of midnight Monday, agreed to a bill that gives most county homeowners a 4 percent reduction on their tax bills to bi-county agencies starting July 1.

Johnson held a news conference Tuesday to thank state lawmakers.

"This is just absolutely amazing," Johnson said. "Thanks to our delegation's hard work, we have at least 22 million additional dollars."

"The last two years have been really hard years [in Annapolis], with all of us working hard to maintain what we have," Johnson said. "We're going to have a very good year, and it's because of hard work."

All bills passed by the General Assembly must still be signed by the governor to take effect.

The accomplishments come in an election year where every lawmaker faces a vote in the September primaries and November general election. It was a factor in most legislative debates this year, said Del. Justin Ross (D-Dist. 22) of Greenbelt.

"No one wants a loss this year," Ross said. "Any opportunity to get a victory [with voters] in an election year, we're going to take it."

One change that came through was the state's agreement to shift the way they calculate net-taxable income, the overall wealth of every county. State aid to counties is calculated based on residents' county income tax returns filed by Aug. 15. But because many wealthy residents get an extension and file taxes later, Prince George's officials have long held that the early recording fails to include the incomes of wealthy residents in other counties.

Now that the state has agreed to analyze overall wealth in November, officials have estimated that Prince George's stands to gain about $22 million a year in funding.

The extra money will also go toward the county school system, preventing cuts in various departments and reducing eight-day furloughs proposed for the county's nearly 6,000 employees, Johnson said.

The county's state senators also pushed through a bill that expands the Homestead Property Tax credit, a cap on how much property taxes can increase each year, to include taxes residents pay the Maryland National-Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Washington Suburban Transit Commission and the Chesapeake Bay Water Quality fund.

Under the bill, homeowners would see the tax bills increase by a maximum of 10 percent per year, even if their home values rise dramatically. The change is estimated to save homeowners between $500 to $850 per year depending where they live in the county, according to state studies.

"This is something county homeowners should have been afforded years ago," said State Sen. Doug Peters (D-Dist. 23) of Bowie, who cosponsored the bill with Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-Dist. 25) of Forestville.

Peters said the breaks will start on homeowners' July tax bills.

Under a bill supported by Police Chief Roberto Hylton, most restaurant and clubs that offer live music performance must get a permit that includes a review of security by county police before they can host shows and concerts.

The bill stems directly from concerns over shootings at late-night county entertainment spots. "Some people worry that having these permits available will mean more entertainment events," said John Erzen, Johnson's spokesman. "But if anything, we think it will be less. And any place that does have entertainment will have police-reviewed security in place."

The county also managed to sidestep several proposed cuts. General Assembly members killed a Senate proposal to have counties take a larger share of teacher pension payments that would have cost the county about $40 million per year by 2014.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) budget also keeps a fund of $12 million per year coming to the county-owned hospital system. That payment, combined with $9 million from the county, should be enough to keep the hospitals in Cheverly, Bowie and Laurel operating for at least another year, officials said.

Some bills take effect July 1, while others don't roll in until Oct. 1.