Posted on 06/18/24
| News Source: WBAL
The Baltimore City Council on Monday passed next fiscal year’s budget, which included an unchanged annual property tax rate.
Outside the chambers, groups clashed over a proposed measure that would cut city property taxes nearly in half over a seven-year period. The group Renew Baltimore wants to see the charter amendment on the November ballot.
“We want to change the trajectory of Baltimore City. We want to change it from a city that’s declining a population every month to a city that’s growing and bustling and thriving and surviving,” Ben Frederick, with Renew Baltimore, told 11 News last week.
The group believes the measure will grow the city’s population and economy, while creating jobs. A representative for the group told 11 News on Monday that it has twice the amount of signatures needed to get on the ballot. The group plans to submit documentation to the Baltimore City Board of Elections in the coming days.
Those with the group Baltimore City is Not for Sale said the city cannot afford the cuts.
“This would be devastating for Baltimore City. It would be an existential crisis,” said Courtney Jenkins, president of the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO Labor Council. “The inequities that we see across our city and across our region are at an all-time high. Right now, this will only exasperate those inequities. So, it’s do you want to save some money here today? Or, do you want public safety, strong public services, education system?”
The coalition, made up of residents and union leaders, said the measure would lead to city worker layoffs and service cuts. They’re trying to stop the ballot initiative.
As for the actual city budget, the City Council passed it early Monday evening.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott released a statement soon after the budget’s passage, saying:
“Tonight, the Baltimore City Council unanimously voted to pass the fiscal year 2025 budget without any amendments. At the beginning of this budget process, our city was staring down a more than $100 million deficit that we were able to close without cutting services or eliminating the jobs of any city workers. This budget maintains important investments that will sustain our historic reductions in gun violence, bolster our work to support Baltimore’s young people through Recreation & Parks and unprecedented funding in City Schools, and continue to modernize city government to improve services for all residents.