Mayor Sheila Dixon plans to announce today steep, across-the-board spending cuts - potentially hundreds of millions of dollars - as Baltimore confronts a worsening economy and prepares for expected reductions in state aid.
Most Baltimore agencies would have to cut spending by more than 12 percent in the next budget year, according to union officials and others who have been briefed on the plan. Police and fire budgets would be cut by about 5 percent. The cuts could reduce the city's $2.1 billion budget by as much as $200 million.
The plan comes on top of a $36.5 million cut that Dixon ordered last month for the current budget year.
Philadelphia, Atlanta and other cities have been forced to take more drastic actions, including immediate layoffs, cuts in services and fee increases to cope with millions of dollars in revenue shortfalls. State governments, including Maryland's, are scrambling to compensate for rapidly declining tax revenues.
"She's going to tell everyone what the budget situation for [fiscal] 2010 looks like," said Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the mayor, referring to the budget year that begins July 1. "If you have a projection of what the budget is going to look like, you should share it as soon as you know."
Clifford would not confirm the target percentages for agencies but said the cuts would be "serious." He said it was too early to know whether the cuts could lead to layoffs, furloughs or reductions in services.
In recent public appearances Dixon has repeatedly warned that steep cuts were coming, and she floated a proposal to cut city trash pickup to once a week and reduce days for collection of recyclables.
Officials said the mayor is giving agency heads time to decide how to achieve the reduction targets. Dixon has previously played down the idea that Baltimore could solve its budget problems by raising taxes or fees, saying that city residents already bear a high tax burden.
In mid-October, the mayor cut $36.5 million from the city budget by continuing a hiring freeze that began in 2007. The Police Department dismantled some specialized units and shifted those officers to patrol to reduce overtime spending, and the Fire Department delayed training programs.
Dixon also wants to reduce a long-standing pension benefit to police and fire retirees that provided extra money in years when the city's investments performed above expectations.
