The Baltimore City Council passed a $2.3 billion budget Monday, coming to an agreement with Mayor Sheila Dixon that left her spending plan largely intact despite weeks of often-heated debate.
The approval came after an unusually contentious budget battle that culminated last week when the council, angry that Dixon proposed closing recreation centers and fire companies, slashed money to some of the mayor's priorities. But after Dixon reached out to several members and promised to restore some funds, the council approved a budget that fell into line with what she wanted.
"The council made it clear to the mayor what their priorities were," said City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake. "Our job is to be an advocate and hold the administration accountable."
But it is not clear that the budget battle is entirely over. In a 9-5 vote, the council cut 40 percent - $200,000 - from the inspector general's office, a reduction that Dixon opposes. Dixon is considering using her line-item veto authority to restore that cut.
Should Dixon veto that section of the budget, the council could offer another plan, but if it does not act, the funds would be restored to the inspector general's office.
Declining revenues had forced the mayor to cut $65 million and propose reductions to summer programs, fire companies, libraries and recreation centers. The proposal ignited widespread protest from community members, with hundreds of young adults flooding the Inner Harbor this weekend asking for access to city-sponsored summer recreation.
The opposition to Mayor Dixon's proposed cuts led Rawlings-Blake to offer a series of amendments Thursday that cut $1.1 million from the mayor's budget, the first time in a decade that a Baltimore City Council had made changes to the executive's spending plan. The council's cuts would have taken money from the city's cable station, translation services, outside legal fees and the inspector general's office.
"It was part of the whole negotiation process," Rawlings-Blake said Monday. The City Council can only make cuts to the budget, and cannot direct where the saving from those cuts can go. It does it so rarely that the body is viewed by many as a rubber stamp for the mayor's priorities.
But this weekend, Dixon contacted council members who opposed her budget, pledging, as she had previously, to restore summer camps at rec centers, child-care centers, a community action center and a fire engine company. Then, Monday afternoon, she met with council leaders saying she would dedicate more funds to Teach for America and the Maryland Food Bank, two of the council president's priorities.
