Baltimore Board of Estimates certifies FY2027 tax rate; council funds mental-health, school locks and child-care priorities

The Baltimore Board of Estimates on June 24 certified the city’s FY2027 real and personal property tax rates after the City Council passed the ordinance of estimates on second reader.

Bob Sennemae, deputy director of the Department of Finance, told the board the certified real-property rate is 2.248 per $100 of assessed value and that the personal-property rate is set at 2.5 times that rate, or $5.62 per $100. "So, that's the matter before the board today," Sennemae said, explaining the certification is required by the city charter.

Council President Zeke Cohen and Budget and Appropriations Chair Danielle McCray framed the certified ordinance as the result of weeks of hearings and collaboration with the mayor’s team. Cohen highlighted several council-directed investments included in the ordinance, saying the council had "funded our values," and pointing to an additional $1.6 million for mental-health and legal services for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, funding for tobacco-sales enforcement in the Health Department, a crisis-response alternative system, upgraded locks on school doors, support for a Baltimore City Child Care Resource Center, and funding for economic-development programs such as the Baltimore Roundtable and main-streets projects.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott thanked council leadership and administration staff for collaborative work on the budget, calling it "a budget for Baltimore, by Baltimore, to move Baltimore forward."

Comptroller Bill Henry said he "has nothing in particular against this budget" but that the comptroller’s office plays a limited role in the budget process; he announced he would abstain on the tax rate and ordinance of estimates. The board proceeded with a motion and voice vote to certify the tax rates, and the certification carried.

The board also recorded several clerical corrections to the agenda before the vote, including an amendment to a Department of Real Estate lease for 115 South Crescent Street (SB 2612207) that changes an extension term from '10' to 'six' and an updated contract period for a Morgan State University grant agreement (SB 2612147) now running June 24, 2026 through June 30, 2027.

The Board of Estimates noted the ordinance of estimates and certified the tax rates as required by charter. The board adjourned; its next regular meeting is scheduled for July 1, 2026 at 9:00 a.m.