BALTIMORE, MD. (Monday, September 27, 2021)  –  Last week, the Baltimore City Board of Estimates approved a contract agreement with Tolemi Software sought by the Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD).  The three-year contract provides the Agency with software known as Slate, which will modernize the agency’s home-built system and improve property-related workflow capabilities within DHCD and the Baltimore City Comptroller’s Office.

In alignment with Mayor Scott’s priority of building a more transparent and efficient City government, the Slate technology will make City-owned properties more visible to the public and lead to process improvements for DHCD’s property acquisition and disposition processes.

“Leveraging technology for the acquisition and disposition of property will help Baltimore City streamline our processes and strengthen the developer experience,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “Surplus public infrastructure must be approached efficiently and effectively to appropriately manage our building and land inventory. These are true assets to strengthen our tax base.”

Slate is an information and project management tool that tracks data directly on a map tied to parcels. With the tool, the City will be able to create, geo-code, and integrate new property and project information into a map-based application along with all other City data.  Connecting and updating data held in different systems and formats across departments and agencies in a centralized location will streamline the information and decision-making regarding public properties.

“Partnering with DHCD on this procurement was a common-sense and fiscally responsible strategy,” said Comptroller Bill Henry. “This collaboration will completely restructure the City’s paper processes into a digital workflow – alleviating resource constraints, strengthening our coordination and elevating our customer experience.”

“We started a process improvement analysis earlier this year, and the need for better technology was paramount in our review,” stated Acting Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy.  “Slate will streamline our internal processes while bringing an improved customer interface that will help expedite the disposition process. We are grateful to be one step closer to the launch of this tool.”

The City anticipates the first workflow into Slate by the end of 2021, with full implementation by the Summer of 2022.