City of Bowie

THE CITY

Founded in 1870, and incorporated as a town in 1916, Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George’s County, and the fifth largest city in the State of Maryland, with an estimated population of 58,682. The town was first called Huntington City, though its train station was named in honor of local resident, Governor Oden Bowie, president of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad. The town was subsequently rechartered as Bowie. In the early days the land was subdivided by developers into more than 500 residential building lots, to create a large town site at a junction of the Baltimore and Potomac’s main line to southern Maryland, and the branch line to Washington, DC.

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE and FINANCIAL POSITION

The City of Bowie operates under a Council/Manager form of government. Policy-making and legislative authority are vested in a governing council consisting of seven members (Mayor and six Council members). The governing council is responsible, among other things, for passing ordinances, adopting the budget, appointing committees, and hiring both the City Manager and City Attorney. The City Manager is responsible for carrying out the policies and ordinances of the governing council, for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the government, and for appointing the heads of all City departments. The council is elected on a non-partisan basis. All seven members serve four-year terms. Four of the council members are elected by district. The mayor and the two remaining council members are elected at large.

The City of Bowie is 18.8 square miles in size and is located in the northern part of Prince George’s County at the crossroads of highways 3/301 and 50. Although considered to be in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, the City’s location also affords easy access to the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland. The greater Washington, DC area continues to outperform many of the other major metropolitan areas across the country. Proximity to the Baltimore/Washington area, a large and diverse tax base, strong wealth and income levels, very strong reserves, and low debt burden are all factors contributing to the City’s stable outlook.