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Prince George's County Council members will decide Monday if they will bill the county school board for formerly free services starting July 1 to help close gaps in its $2.6 billion government budget.

County leaders are weighing whether to charge the education system $23.6 million next year for school construction debt, crossing guards and staffing law enforcement officers at county schools — costs previously paid for by the county.

The change was proposed by County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) after the state school board denied a county request to cut the same amount from school operation funds last week, leaving few options to balance costs.

"The Board of Education, you know, they have a $1.6 billion budget," Jonathan Seeman, director of the county's Department of Management and Budget told the council Tuesday. "Our position is that they can handle $23 million."

Several council members said they wanted to shift funds to cover part of the education bill.

"Not all of the executive's proposals I agree with," said Councilwoman Ingrid Turner (D-Dist. 4) of Bowie. "Education is important. We need to find a couple of alternative ways [to fund it]."

In the proposed budget, the county will also cut 55 positions from its 6,000 person work force, the first layoffs since the early 1990s. The cuts, which begin July 1, are less severe than the 307 eliminations Johnson had announced when he unveiled the spending plan in March.

The county still plans to furlough employees for 10 days next year and cut nearly every department's budget by 10 percent to balance a $113 million deficit caused by lost real estate revenues and lower assessments. Two attempts by Johnson to raise taxes on homeowners failed to pass the General Assembly this year.

Though the tax rate remains fixed at 96 cents for every $100 of assessed value, most homeowners will have higher tax bills in the next year due to rising assessments.

Earlier budget drafts had also counted on the county reducing its share of the "Maintenance of Effort" to the Prince George's County school system by $23.6 million.

State officials also rejected similar requests by Montgomery and Wicomico counties to waive the required school funding under state law. Montgomery has taken a similar approach to Prince George's by charging its school system the $77.5 million it was denied in its Maintenance of Effort request.

In his briefing to the council, Seeman said the county spends at least $40 million on services for the school system but has chosen to charge only the amount of the waiver.

School board officials were not informed of the change before it was announced, and no education officials were present at the special session.

School board member Donna Hathaway Beck said education officials may consider furloughing teachers and having administrators fill in as substitutes to recoup the $23.6 million cost.

"There's no celebrating when the county is facing the economic situation that it's in," Beck said. "I have to support the school system, but I feel bad for the county for what we're facing."

The funding shift proposed by the executive broke a six-day wait on the budget as the final deadline approaches. Council members scrapped plans to approve the budget on Wednesday, saying they needed this week to review the document before the required June 1 deadline.

Department heads will be left to determine which employees will be fired, county officials said.

The scaled-back layoffs came thanks to a move by the state legislature this session to transfer $30 million to the county from the bi-county Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission.

In addition to shrinking the layoff numbers at a cost of $15.7 million, Johnson has proposed hiring two additional classes of police for $4.4 million.

"That's definitely good news," said Police Chief Roberto Hylton when informed of the change. He could not say how many officers will be saved by the reduction.

Union officials who attended the session said they were pleased that fewer workers will lose their jobs.

"We feel bad for the board of education," said Kerry Watson, a spokesman for the county's Fraternal Order of Police. "But everybody's got to feel the hatchet on this one."