Growing Baltimore economically, improving education, and increasing safety were listed as top priorities in Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake’s first State of the City address as the elected leader of the city.
“Tough economies and tight budgets should not be used as an excuse to stifle innovation and limit compassion,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake to members of City Council. “Responsible austerity means that we remember and protect the most vulnerable in our society-including our lowest paid City workers and our struggling neighbors.” Detailed in the Mayor’s proposal were several new goals such as the ten-year plan to grow the city by 10,000 families. Measures to help the city reach its target include a new bill that will shave 20 cents off property tax rates for homeowners by 2020. With this new legislation, homeowners living in a $200,000 home will begin to see a $40 annual tax reduction in 2013, which will steadily increase to $400 saved by 2020. Property owners who allow their homes or lots to sit vacant, perpetuating and encouraging crime through blight, will not be eligible for any property tax breaks. Other incentives to grow Baltimore’s population include better funding for schools and programming focused on keeping youth involved in their community with a purpose. The pulse of Baltimore’s public city schools has continuously strengthened with the dropout rate cut in half since 2007, and a steady influx of students for two years in a row, an occurrence which hasn’t been recorded in decades. The Mayor’s budget for the 2013 Fiscal Year will call on support from the City Council members to increase city funds for school construction by 140 percent- or $300 million. Those monies would be used to build new schools, renovate old ones, and merge those that need to be shut down. Funds for the overhaul would be provided, in part, by the beverage container tax.
“It is wrong to pretend that we can make a real dent in this problem without new funding. It’s false to say we can borrow a billion dollars but that we won’t have to pay it back one way or another. And it isn’t honest to say there won’t be sacrifice,” said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. “The special interests and lobbyists will tell you there’s another way—but they won’t tell you how. It’s a new tax, and it’s one we need to pass now to invest in our kids and our future. Pass this bill. Help our students and get Baltimore growing again.”
Another major factor in expanding population is safety. With gun crime down 16 percent and the homicide rate at its lowest since 1985, Baltimore is moving up on the list of desirable places to raise a family. In her address the Mayor proposed new funding to cover city streets with more surveillance cameras that deter crime and partnerships with community organizations that help in the effort to keep their neighborhoods safe.
“The cameras we’re hoping to have put in will have state of the art software,” said executive director of the Midtown Community Benefits District, Peter Merles. “They will actually detect and alert the monitor to any unusual activity. The cameras can be used proactively to prevent crime, not just prosecute after the crime happens.”
The Mayor also gave information on Baltimore’s Recovery Corp program, which is set on freeing the city’s 60,000 residents entangled in drug addiction. There will also be a $1 million innovation initiative that encourages citizens to submit proposals on how to make Baltimore’s government run smoother and more efficiently. The 2013 Fiscal Year Budget will also make room for an inspector general’s office, which will encourage the reporting of waste, fraud and abuse within city government.