Baltimore officials seek to preserve highway-user share, warn of steep cuts to road and bridge work

Baltimore City representatives asked the House Environment and Transportation Committee for support of House Bill 9-01 to change the formula that determines the city's share of state highway-user revenue. Nina Themelas, director of government relations for Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, told the committee that the city currently receives about 12.2% of the highway-user revenue pool but that without action the city's share will drop to just over 9% beginning in fiscal 2028. "That would comprise about $60,000,000 each year of highway user revenue for the city," Themelas said.

Veronica McBeath, representing the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, outlined the local consequences if the cut occurs: a projected fall from $95 million in fiscal 2026 to $16 million in fiscal 2030 for highway-user funds in the city, which she said would reduce resurfacing, bridge repairs and traffic-signal modernization. "We would go from $95,000,000 in fiscal 26 to just $16,000,000 in fiscal 30, which would be a 75% reduction," McBeath said. She added that without stable local match levels the city risks losing federal transportation grants that require a local match.

City witnesses noted that Baltimore is unique among Maryland jurisdictions because it maintains not only local roads but also many state roads within its limits. McBeath said that the city has 25 major bridges in need of repair and 22 major bridge projects in design that could be placed at risk by the funding loss. Themelas urged a favorable report and said the legislation is necessary to prevent cuts that would jeopardize safety and federal funding.

No formal amendments were presented during the hearing and no vote was recorded. Baltimore City’s representatives said they would continue to work with committee members on technical details and to provide additional materials explaining the fiscal impact and the relationship to federal matching requirements.