By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Baltimore City Council is in the final stages of approving the fiscal year 2026 budget, barring any surprises from the federal government. The hearings began on May 28 and ended on June 4.
During these sessions lawmakers heard from a range of city agencies about their top budget priorities that need funding. The council has until June 26 to make amendments, and pass the budget so it can go into effect on July 1.
Main concerns addressed throughout the hearings have been reducing the costly impact of vacant jobs and rising overtime pay in city agencies.
“According to our analysis of the data provided by the administration, overtime expenditures from the general fund at [Recreation and Parks] increased from $2.3 million in 2023 to $2.8 in 2024,” said Council President Zeke Cohen (D) at City Hall on June 2.
Reginald Moore, an executive director of Baltimore City Recreation and Parks (BCRP), responded saying their overtime is consistent with events that happen throughout the city.
“In August of last year, there was a severe wind storm; we had over 400 service requisitions,” said Moore. “That event, alone, approximately cost us about a half a million dollars in operation between overtime and equipment that was used. We will continue to look at overtime, but we do understand that some of this [overtime] is going to happen because of events and activities that our agency still has to operate.”
Top budget priorities for BCRP include $107,000 in additional dollars for security at the various pool locations, $436,000 for additional tree maintenance and $243,000 for playground maintenance.
Cohen addressed concerns about vacant positions in the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), which he acknowledges is severely understaffed.
“We have 492 sworn vacancies right now,” said Baltimore City Police Commissioner Richard Worley at the June 3 hearing. “The majority of those have probably been vacant for about 18 months because we were on the downward trend.”
Despite these trends and a nationwide shortage of police officers, Worley spoke confidently of the agency’s ability to fill vacancies in the coming three to five years.
“By the end of the year, I think we’re going to have 100 more cops than we have now,” he said.
Worley credited several efforts for their expected increase, such as the mayor and city officials providing officers a good contract in 2024 that would keep some members of the police force from retiring and BPD upgrading their recruitment campaigns.
The police department’s FY 2026 priorities include $225 million for police patrol, $110 million for the Criminal Investigation Division and $32 million for recruitment.
Councilwoman Phylicia Porter (D-District 10) said one of the major issues that she has seen across the different budget hearings is the likelihood of federal funding being removed from city resources and how that could impact residents.
Porter said having a conversation about what that potential deficit could look like is going to be paramount.
She also pointed out how her fellow councilmembers have used these hearings to ensure agency efficiency.
“I’m grateful that this council delved into those issues to see how we can get better, because in the fiscal year 2027 budget we are going to have to work more efficiently with the limited funds that we will have next year,” said Porter, citing the importance of preparing for the next three years of potentially reduced financial support from the federal government.
Councilman Paris Gray (D-District 8) said a top priority for him this budget season is hearing what BPD and other agencies are doing about ensuring Black men, who are over incarcerated in Maryland, are given the tools to choose a better path and not just seen as criminals.
“One of the things I want to make sure that we are doing is making sure that our Baltimore City police and our Rec and Parks are still going to be there this summer for our kids,” said Gray in spite of federal funding cuts. “If we want to make sure that we are going to keep these numbers down and keep our kids safe we have to find things for them to do.”
As of June 2, homicides in Baltimore City are down by 23.6 percent and non-fatal shootings down by 23.4 percent compared to this time last year, according to Baltimore City Mayor Brandon M. Scott (D).