BALTIMORE, MD (Monday June 23, 2025) - Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott, alongside Council President Zeke Cohen and members of the City Council, held a signing ceremony for the Baltimore City budget for Fiscal Year 2026. The budget was passed by the City Council last week on June 16 by a vote of 13-2 and will take effect July 1st.

"This budget invests in our youth, builds on our public safety progress, and drives growth in all of our neighborhoods," said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. "Despite chaos at the federal level and challenging economic conditions worldwide, together, we were able to close an $85 million budget gap without cuts to core services, without layoffs, and without any broad-based tax increases. Baltimore is modeling that you can achieve fiscal responsibility while still investing in people - and this budget will continue to drive the renaissance that is making our city a great place to live, work, and raise a family."

"Our City Council worked hard to produce a budget that invests in Baltimoreans of every background and age," said Council President Zeke Cohen. We fought to increase support for safety, accountability, and our most vulnerable residents. Crucially, we agreed to continue collaborating with the Administration to improve the budget process so that we can reduce excessive overtime in future years. Fiscal stewardship is extremely important to this Council, and our residents deserve to know that when we pass a budget, every dollar is well spent. We are truly grateful to Mayor Scott for his collaboration and partnership throughout this process."

"After weeks of speaking with our community, hearing testimony from City leaders, and engaging in spirited debate, I am proud to have advanced a budget that meets the needs of our city," said Budget Committee Chairwoman Danielle McCray. "This budget will invest in our communities and effectively deliver public services that matter to our residents. I am grateful for the collaboration of my colleagues and Mayor Scott's administration throughout the committee hearings."

Fiscal 2026 Spending Plan

For every dollar of revenue generation, this budget includes $2 of savings - meaning it will allow the city to use taxpayer dollars more efficiently and effectively. The budget includes:

• $31.4 million to generate citywide savings through optimizing costs and aligning the budget with actual spending trends.
• $13.0 million in savings to individual agency budgets. These reductions avoid any major disruptions or impacts to City services.
• $2,000,000 in additional funding for the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs and the immigrant community to have the tools and resources they deserve in these uncertain times.

Federal Funding

The budget includes $216.4 million from federal grants, essentially consistent with the Fiscal 2025 budget. We will continue to closely monitor the status of federal awards to understand where future adjustments may be needed.

Prioritizing Our Youth

The FY2026 budget invests $634.4 million across all funds in services focused on Prioritizing our Youth. Key highlights and investments include:

• YouthWorks: Allocating funds to support 8,500 YouthWorks spots for the upcoming summer. Additional funding for the program is made available through a partnership with the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund.
• Recreation Centers: Operating costs for three new recreation centers that will come online in Fiscal 2026: Chick Webb, Parkview, Gardenville. $600,000 in recurring funding to continue enhancing programming across the City's Recreation Centers.
• B'more for Healthy Babies: $1,000,000 for the B'more for Healthy Babies program to continue providing services to over 10,000 families annually. This City investment will help to leverage matching Medicaid funds to support the program.

Building Public Safety

The budget invests $1.2 billion across all funds in services focused on Building Public Safety. Key highlights and investments include:

• Group Violence Reduction Strategy: Fully funding the staffing model for the Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which will allow the program to expand citywide.
• Police Department Civilianization: Continuing to transition administrative tasks from sworn police officers to civilian roles. The FY2026 budget civilianizes administrative functions for Police Districts, Asset Forfeiture, and Employee Wellness. Net savings from these actions is $1.1 million annually.
• Parking & Traffic Safety: Enhancing parking and traffic safety efforts within the Department of Transportation. Maintains funding for 24-hour parking enforcement and staffing levels for these services. $1,000,000 in additional funding toward traffic calming projects citywide to ensure the safety of all residents on our roads.

Clean & Healthy Neighborhoods

The budget invests $1.1 billion across all funds in services focused on ensuring Clean and Healthy Neighborhoods. Key highlights and investments include:

• Solid Waste Stabilization: $5.0 million to continue enhancing recycling and trash collection within the Department of Public Works. Funding for an additional 15 trash and recycling crews, making way for shorter routes and less reliance on overtime. Additional funding to create a dedicated team focused on improvements to Solid Waste facilities. $750,000 to begin piloting a curbside yard waste collection program to advance the City's Zero Waste goals.
• Deploying Opioid Restitution Funds: $29.6 million from the Opioid Restitution Fund to combat the impacts of the opioid epidemic in our City. Funds will be used to expand opioid response efforts within the Health Department, provide funding opportunities to community-based organizations, and enhance EMS and homeless shelter operations.

Equitable Neighborhood Development

The budget invests $349.6 million across all funds in services focused on Equitable Neighborhood Development. Key highlights and investments include:

• Bmore Fast Initiative: Earlier this year, the Mayor announced the Bmore Fast program to improve the City's permitting process. The FY2026 Budget fully funds the newly launched permitting system and allocates funding to expand the permit review staff within the Fire Department. This budget also transfers the Office of Zoning Administrator from the Department of Housing and Community Development to the Planning Department. This change ensures the team enforcing the zoning code is aligned with the team establishing the City's zoning code.
• Creating the Department of Consumer Protection and Business Licensing which will centralize and streamline many of the City's licensing processes and will establish the director position for the department.
• Vacants Initiative: This budget adds an additional $1.0 million to further expand staffing focused on executing the Mayor's $3.0 billion initiative to eliminate vacants in the City of Baltimore. The budget also provides $250,000 to the Circuit Court to increase staff capacity for hearing cases associated with vacant properties.
• Establishing the Mayor's Office of Art, Culture, & Entertainment: $2.0 million to establish a new team within the Mayor's Office that will be focused on cultivating events for our City, streamlining the special events process for neighborhoods, and coordinating with community-based partners. This effort is part of a broader plan to support the arts engine in our city, including a renewed and more focused BOPA investment.
• Ensure $500,000 in funding is allocated for the Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors (HUBS) program.

Responsible Stewardship of City Resources

The budget invests $221.7 million across all funds in services focused on the Responsible Stewardship of City Resources. Key highlights and investments include:

• Investment to Reduce Reliance on Contracted Services: During the pandemic, many services within City government turned to utilizing external contractors to backfill vacancies in critical City positions. This budget provides funding to create quality City jobs to replace the use of contractors within the Department of Finance and Information Technology. This transition is estimated to save the City $1.5 million annually.
• Continued Focus on Core Service Delivery: This budget includes additional investments to improve City services, including trash collection and timely pothole repairs. It's estimated that this funding will allow the City to pave over 100 miles of road. The Office of Performance and I-Team (Innovation Team) will continue to help agencies better leverage data to improve these services.