Planning department reports Workday capital accounting fixes, warns of lost $1.5 million Greenway grant

The Baltimore Department of Planning told the City Council Budget and Appropriations Committee it has made substantial progress correcting capital accounting in the city27s Workday financial system and expects to have the work done by the summer, which staff said will allow the city to report project balances by revenue category without relying on proxies.

"We have spent a lot of energy working with city agencies and the Bureau of Accounting and Payroll Services to correct hierarchies, cost centers and other work tags so that we have accurate data within the Workday system," Sarah Parnellum, division chief for policy and data analysis in the planning department, told the committee.

Parnellum and Director of Planning Chris Ryer described steps taken to restore appropriations lost in the Workday transition, consolidate multiple project records and implement new funding‑source rules so expenditures are posted to the correct revenue categories. Those changes, planning staff said, will make it easier to reallocate prior appropriations to current priorities once the adjustments are complete.

"Once we've completed that accounting progress, we will no longer have to use a proxy and we will be able to reallocate prior funding according to priorities," Parnellum said, adding that the department expects to move forward this summer.

Greenway Trail grant: Council President Z Cohen asked the planning director about an apparent loss of $1.5 million in state funds intended to help acquire the Norfolk Southern spur for the Greenway Trail. Ryer said the city had received notice in September 2024 that the funds were never requested and that the allocation appears to have been reappropriated by the state.

"We received a $1.5 million grant in the state budget several years ago," Ryer said. "We had no rationale at all of why it was withdrawn, so we'll work with the Department of General Services at the state level to understand what happened and the delegation to reinstate it." He said the project has been delayed for years in part by a federal NEPA process tied to an earlier earmark and by staffing turnover at the planning office.

Parnellum and Nicole Stewart, assistant director of planning, told committee members that staff turnover contributed to gaps in communication that may have prevented the city from drawing the state funds in time. Stewart said the department has since added fiscal staff and new steps to avoid similar problems.

Why it matters: The Workday fixes will affect how the city tracks and reassigns billions in open capital appropriations. The unresolved Greenway grant raises questions about grant management and intergovernmental coordination for a project council members described as a priority for active‑transportation and livability in parts of the city.

Members asked planning officials how capital reallocations are decided. Parnellum said funds can be reallocated either through the annual capital budget process or through the capital transfer process; transfers go through the Planning Commission and Board of Estimates. Chris Ryer and the city administrator27s office described a broader effort to centralize project management within the mayor27s infrastructure office and to improve procurement and budgeting practices across agencies.

Ending: Planning staff said they will present a completed accounting correction plan in the coming months and that community planners will act as liaisons to affected neighborhoods when transfers or reprogramming affect local projects.