Mayor Brandon Scott had the crowd right where he wanted them.
He told a rapt audience in December what so many had waited so long to hear: Baltimore finally had a big plan to address the city’s vacant housing epidemic.
To pull it off, the mayor and the city must convince the revenue-strapped state to do something unprecedented: contribute nearly $1 billion over 15 years and give Baltimore control of a portion of the sales tax collected in the city.
So far the reception from state leaders has been lukewarm as Scott’s administration has tried to build up support, according to emails and other communications obtained in a public records request. And the city hasn’t come close to securing a full $3 billion they say is needed to address the crisis. Meanwhile, budget officials have pushed back internally, raising concern about the risks of the plan to Baltimore’s finances.
