Introduced by: Councilmember Costello
A Resolution Entitled
A Council Resolution concerning
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Quarterly Budget Briefings
For the purpose of calling on the Chief of the Finance Department’s Bureau of Budget and Management Research to brief the City Council on how the City's actual finances compare to its budgeted projections in a timely manner after the close of each quarter in the City's fiscal year.
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Recitals
For the last several years, the City of Baltimore, like governments at all levels throughout the nation, has had to address significant gaps between projected revenues and expenditures. This trend seems likely to continue, with the Finance Department having projected previous annual budget shortfalls as high as $75 and $60 million.
In order to address these shortfalls, the City Council has had to approve a variety of measures to both cut City expenses and raise additional revenue. Some of these measures have been more effective than originally estimated, and others less so.
However, due to the way that budget reporting is currently handled, it often takes quite some time before it is clear to either the public at large, or their representatives on the City Council, which measures are successful or where projections are falling short. This lack of timely information undermines the public’s ability to understand the City’s finances or meaningfully participate in the budget process. It also makes it more difficult for the Council to assess what further measures could best be used to ensure balanced budgets going forward.
Greater transparency about how closely actual expenditures and revenues are adhering to budget projections woul...
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