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Administration defends fines-and-fees study; cites outdated tipping and EMS rates as revenue modernization targets
Summary
CAO Faith P. Leach told the council the administration launched a comprehensive fines-and-fees review to modernize long-unchanged rates, citing landfill tipping fees and ambulance transport charges among the items under review and comparing Baltimore's current rates to peer counties.
At the Ways and Means hearing, City Administrator Faith P. Leach outlined the administration's rationale for a fines-and-fees review and explained why some fees are being considered for modernization rather than ad hoc increases.
Leach said the city has not done a comprehensive fee study in nearly two decades and that some line items are far out of step with neighboring jurisdictions. "There are fees like that landfill tipping fee. That fee hasn't been updated since the nineties," she said, noting Baltimore's tipping fee is substantially lower than surrounding counties.
Comparative examples cited in testimony
- Landfill tipping fee: CAO cited Baltimore City at roughly $60/ton versus Baltimore County at $125, Howard County at $106 and other regional comparators.
- EMS transport: Leach said the city's BLS and ALS ambulance charges are lower than national peers; many ambulance transports are billed to Medicaid or insurance and a small share of users pay out-of-pocket.
The CAO said the administration will present a phased fee-study report this summer with comparisons to Maryland and national peers; any proposed fee changes will be presented to the Board of Estimates or Council for approval. "Every fee that's analyzed will not be increased" was Leach's explicit caveat; the study will recommend adjustments where appropriate and identify offsets or mitigations.
Why it matters: Council members expressed concern about the distributional impact of fee changes on low-income residents and small businesses. The administration said it will conduct comparisons and consider exemptions and phased approaches.
Next steps: The administration said the comprehensive fee study will be released this summer with line-item detail and peer comparisons; council members asked for the study and a list of items under review as soon as available.
