Baltimore MD’s $4.98B FY2027 budget proposal: what’s funded, what stays the same on taxes, and what happens next

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Baltimore’s FY2027 preliminary budget would keep city tax rates flat while boosting infrastructure, shelters, youth jobs, rec centers, and business support.


Baltimore has released its Fiscal 2027 preliminary budget, a proposed $4.98 billion spending plan that now moves into public review before any final adoption. The package includes about $3.92 billion for day-to-day operations and about $1.07 billion for capital projects. For residents, the immediate takeaway is that the city is proposing bigger infrastructure spending, continued funding for several neighborhood-service programs, and no change to the city’s property or local income tax rates in this proposal. ([htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com](https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/202-04-01-fy2027-preliminary-budget-69cd641e5d9c8.pdf))

What is in the proposal

The biggest capital items are closely tied to everyday city life. The proposal includes more than $300 million for transportation work such as resurfacing, ADA upgrades, bridge work, traffic signals, and traffic calming; more than $45 million for recreation and parks, including $20 million for a new youth sports complex; $35 million to replace the Northeast Police District station; and more than $60 million for Public Works facility upgrades, demolition, and stabilization. The Baltimore Banner reported that this is also the city’s first budget built as federal ARPA-era support winds down, which helps explain the focus on sustaining core programs while closing a smaller structural gap. ([htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com](https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/202-04-01-fy2027-preliminary-budget-69cd641e5d9c8.pdf))

Services residents may notice first

On the operating side, the proposal continues added trash and recycling crews and dedicated yard-waste collection, keeps $3 million for Clean Corps, adds $2.3 million for homeless shelter operations, sets aside $8 million to acquire two more permanent shelter facilities, and includes $2 million to reopen a second Sexual Health and Wellness Clinic. Youth and neighborhood items include $16.5 million for YouthWorks and 8,500 summer jobs, funding to open the Gardenville and Elijah Cummings recreation centers, another $300,000 for the mayor’s early-childhood initiative plus $3.2 million for Pre-K programs through Baltimore City Public Schools, and a $900,000 increase for Enoch Pratt Free Library collections. ([htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com](https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/202-04-01-fy2027-preliminary-budget-69cd641e5d9c8.pdf))

Housing and business items are also geared toward practical bottlenecks. The budget includes $8.5 million for housing incentives including Buy Back the Block and legacy-homeowner protection, $1.35 million in added staffing for vacant-property work tied to the ReFrame initiative, continued permitting and customer-service support with added Fire Department plan-review staffing, and a new $15 million Baltimore Development Corporation revolving fund for business attraction and retention. For homeowners, builders, and small businesses, that means the city is pairing incentives with staffing aimed at moving vacant-property, permitting, and development work faster. ([htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com](https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/202-04-01-fy2027-preliminary-budget-69cd641e5d9c8.pdf))

Taxes and what happens next

The tax piece is mostly about continuity, not a new cut. The preliminary budget says real and personal property tax rates would remain unchanged at $2.248 and $5.62 per $100 of assessed value, and the local income tax rate would stay at 3.2%. The Targeted Homeowners Tax Credit is maintained, but this proposal does not create a new citywide tax reduction. The city’s December 2025 10-year financial plan talks about tax relief as a longer-term strategy, so the cleaner reading of this budget is that Baltimore is holding rates steady while keeping existing homeowner protections in place. ([htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com](https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/202-04-01-fy2027-preliminary-budget-69cd641e5d9c8.pdf))

Residents still have time to weigh in. The budget schedule lists a Board of Estimates special meeting and BOE Taxpayer’s Night on April 22, 2026; the ordinance at the BOE on May 6; introduction to the City Council on May 11; City Council Taxpayers’ Night on May 14; and final passage due no later than June 26, 2026. WBAL also reported added public-engagement events around the proposal, including a virtual town hall on April 6 and a citywide community budget forum on April 15. ([htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com](https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/202-04-01-fy2027-preliminary-budget-69cd641e5d9c8.pdf))

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