Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill
Introduced by: Councilmember Henry
A Bill Entitled
An Ordinance concerning
title
Employee-Owned Businesses - Reporting
For the purpose of requiring the Director of Finance to provide annual reports to the Mayor and the City Council regarding certain Baltimore City employee-owned businesses; defining certain terms; and specifying the contents of the required reports.
body
By adding
Article 5 - Finance, Property, and Procurement
Section(s) 14-1 to 14-5,to be under the new subtitle,
“Subtitle 14. Employee-Owned Businesses”
Baltimore City Code
(Edition 2000)
Section 1. Be it ordained by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, That the Laws of Baltimore City read as follows:
Baltimore City Code
Article 5. Finance, Property, and Procurement
Subtitle 14. Employee-Owned Businesses
§ 14-1. Definitions.
(a) In general.
In this subtitle, the following terms have the meanings indicated.
(b) Director.
“Director” means the Director of the Department of Finance or the Director’s designee.
(c) Employee-owned business.
“Employee-owned business” means a business in which:
(1) the business’s employees are represented on the board of directors and the business’s employees control the majority of the voting stock; or
(2) the trustees are elected by the business’s employees, if the business is held in trust that controls the majority of the voting stock.
§ 14-2. Director of Finance to report.
(a) In general.
No later than 3 months after the end of each fiscal year, the Director shall submit a report to the Mayor and the City Council regarding employee-owned businesses in Baltimore City and shall include the information required by this subtitle.
(b) Business input.
To the extent practicable, in preparing the report required under by this subtitle, the Director may consult with employee-owned businesses in Baltimore City to provide necessary background and advice.
(c) Identification of employee-owned businesses.
Information in the report required by this subtitle shall be limited to only those employee-owned businesses that have identified themselves to the City as being an employee-owned business.
§ 14-3 Reporting requirement: City contracts awarded to employee-owned businesses.
In consultation with the Chief Purchasing Agent and with the cooperation of all City agencies, the Director shall include in the report required by this subtitle the following information for the previous fiscal year:
(1) the number and total dollar value of all City contracts awarded to employee-owned businesses, disaggregated by City agency and type of business;
(2) the number and total dollar value of all City contracts, disaggregated by City agency and type of business; and
(3) of all City contracts, the percentage of City contracts awarded to employee-owned businesses, disaggregated by City agency and type of business.
§ 14-4. Reporting requirement: City assistance to employee-owned businesses.
(a) Assistance defined.
In this section, “assistance” means:
(1) any financial assistance from any City agency or the Baltimore Development Corporation including a grant, a loan, tax-increment financing, or payments in lieu of taxes; or
(2) certification under Subtitle 28 of this article as a minority business enterprise, a women’s business enterprise, or a small local business enterprise.
(b) In general.
The Director, in consultation with the Chief Purchasing Agent, the Chief of the Minority and Women’s Business Opportunity Office, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Baltimore Development Corporation, shall include in the report required by this subtitle the following information for the previous fiscal year:
(1) the number of employee-owned businesses that applied for assistance;
(2) the number of employee-owned businesses actually provided assistance, a description of what that assistance was, and, if known, how the assistance was utilized by the business; and
(3) a description of the employee-owned businesses that applied for and were actually provided with assistance, such as type of business and location within the City.
§ 14-5. Reporting requirement: Assessments; legislative or policy recommendations.
The Director, in consultation with the Chief Purchasing Agent, shall include in the report required by this subtitle:
(1) an assessment of the difficulties or obstacles that employee-owned businesses encounter when competing for City contracts; and
(2) legislative or policy proposals to lessen the effects of the difficulties and obstacles and to enhance the ability of employee-owned businesses to compete for and obtain City contracts.
Section 2. And be it further ordained, That the catchlines contained in this Ordinance are not law and may not be considered to have been enacted as a part of this or any prior Ordinance.
Section 3. And be it further ordained, That this Ordinance takes effect on the 30th day after the date it is enacted.