Next year’s $4.03 billion city budget will not raise taxes or lay off public workers, despite the end of pandemic-related grants and a required $65 million spend for the first year of the state-mandated Kirwan Commission education improvement program.
The fiscal year 2023 budget was unveiled Monday by Mayor Brandon Scott. It includes pay raises for rookie police officers, $5 million to help attract new homeowners and a total of over $65 million
The document will be reviewed by the City Council and debated in a series of public hearings this spring. It offers a glimpse of how Baltimore is emerging from the impact of Covid-19 — defiantly, yet bruised by a drop in downtown commercial property values, and bolstered by federal and state grants.
Overall, the budget is 14.5% less than the fiscal year 2022 city budget because it lacks pandemic-related federal grants.
