Baltimore officials outline $2.6 billion FY26 general fund and targeted fees plan to close $85M gap

The Baltimore City Budget and Appropriations Committee heard on a preliminary revenue forecast Tuesday showing a $2.6 billion fiscal 2026 general fund and a proposed $26.6 million package of targeted fee and fine changes to help close an $85 million budget gap.

Laura Larson, city budget director, told the committee the FY26 preliminary budget “reflects a $2,600,000,000 general fund budget,” with property tax making up about 46% of the total and income tax just over 19%.

The administration proposed roughly $26.6 million in new or adjusted local fees and fines rather than broad-based tax increases, Larson said. The package includes a landfill tipping fee increase to $135 per ton, a 20% increase in EMS transport fees, changes to parking- and transportation-related charges (including raising the taxi tax from $0.25 to $0.38 per ride), a recalibration of city fines and a revision of the grocery bag fee split between retailers and the city. Larson said the proposals are targeted at fees that are out of date or below cost recovery levels and that many will require council approval before taking effect.

The plan will be paired with $2 of expenditure reductions for every $1 of revenue identified, Larson said. City Administrator Leach told the committee the administration has balanced multiple recent budget shortfalls without general tax increases and urged partnership with the council on alternatives, while Council President Cohen and other members cautioned against measures that would broadly burden residents or small businesses.

Council President Cohen said, “I’m extremely concerned about any broad based fees that would hit the residents of Baltimore,” adding that increases to fees such as a bag tax or taxi tax could be harmful in the current economic climate.

Larson said the city will conduct a comprehensive review of its fee inventory (more than 2,000 fees) this summer, then return to the council with targeted recommendations in the fall. She said the revenue forecast assumes reforms would be in place by October and would generate roughly three-quarters of their annual value in FY26.

Larson and other administration officials emphasized that some items are intended to align city charges with peer jurisdictions or to recover full costs for services first priced decades ago; the tipping fee, for example, was last updated in 1993 and the EMS fee was last altered in 2018. The administration also said it is pursuing operational improvements — including broader online payment options and collection process changes — to increase collections on existing charges.

The committee did not take formal votes on any fee changes at the hearing. Larson said specific legislation would be introduced after the council completes its work on the FY26 budget.

What’s next: the budget office will finish its fee study over the summer and present specific fee and fine recommendations to the council in the fall; any change would require council action and implementation timelines would vary by item.