City Budget Office to Host First of Three Balance Baltimore Workshops

Residents encouraged to offer input on budget decisions facing Baltimore City

BALTIMORE, Md. (November 10, 2015)—Baltimore's Bureau of Budget and Management Research will hold a workshop Saturday morning to ask residents how they would fund programs that serve their community in Fiscal 2017, as well as what is working and what could be done to improve the services provided by the City.

Attendees will engage in an Outcome Budgeting exercise within small groups organized by the City’s seven priority outcomes – Better Schools, Safer Streets, Stronger Neighborhoods, Growing Economy, Innovative Government, A Cleaner City, and A Healthier City. Citizens will be challenged to grapple with real service-level decisions to balance the budget within their priority outcome.

All recommendations from this exercise will be presented to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as part of a report detailing citizen input gleaned from in-person workshops, as well as the online budget engagement component, Budget Live!

This is the first of three events planned for this year's budget planning process that aim to educate citizens on the difficult financial decisions facing Baltimore, while providing an opportunity to have a role in building the future of their community.
The first event will be held at the Enoch Pratt Free Library – Patterson Park Branch from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, November 14th. Free street parking is available. The venue is also located on the MTA Routes 13, 20, 23 and 40. Light refreshments will be served.

Future budget workshops are planned for:

•    December 5 from 9 a.m. to noon: Enoch Pratt Free Library – Waverly Branch.
•    January 9 from 9 a.m. to noon: Enoch Pratt Free Library – Pennsylvania Avenue Branch.

For more information on the workshop sessions, contact Kirsten Silveira at Kirsten.Silveira@baltimorecity.gov or 410-396-4965.