Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on Monday signed the city's $4.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2026. 

The budget includes $31.4 million to generate savings, $13 million in savings for individual agency budgets without disruptions to city services, and $2 million in funding for the Mayor's Office of Immigration Affairs. $216.4 million in federal grants is also included in the budget.

For every dollar of revenue generation, the budget includes $2 of savings, according to the mayor's office. 

The budget will take effect on July 1, 2025. 

"This budget invests in our youth, builds on our public safety progress and drives growth in all of our neighborhoods," Scott said in a statement. "Despite chaos at the federal level and challenging economic conditions worldwide, together, we were able to close an $85 million budget gap without cuts to core services, layoffs and without any broad-based tax increases." 

$1.2 billion for public safety in Baltimore

The 2026 budget allocates $1.2 billion to bolster public safety. 

The city will invest in its Group Violence Reduction Strategy, a program that Mayor Scott has praised for its impact on reducing crime. Under the budget, the program will be expanded citywide. 

The budget also allows the city to move forward with reassigning administrative tasks from sworn police officers to civilian roles. The city said the move will generate $1.1 million in net savings. 

Another $1 million will go toward citywide traffic safety projects, including funding for 24-hour parking enforcement. 

Investing in youth programs 

The city is allocating $634.4 million to youth programs for 2026.

The YouthWorks program will receive funding to support 8,500 positions for the upcoming summer. Additional funding for the program is available through a partnership with the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund.

Operating costs for three new recreation centers at Chick Webb, Parkview, and Gardenville are also covered in the budget.

The budget also includes $600,000 in recurring funding for programming at the city's recreation centers.

The B'more for Healthy Babies program will receive $1 million to provide services to more than 10,000 families annually.

Neighborhood development

Baltimore will invest $1.1 billion into making its neighborhoods clean and healthy.

Under the budget, $5 million will be allocated to enhancing recycling and trash collection within the Department of Public Works (DPW).

Another $29.6 million from the opioid restitution fund will be used to combat the impacts of the opioid epidemic. The funding will be used to expand opioid response efforts within the health department, fund community organizations, and enhance EMS and homeless shelter operations.

The budget also includes $349.6 million for equitable neighborhood development, including the Bmore Fast Initiative, which aims to improve the city's permitting process, the Vacants Initiative, and create the new Mayor's Office of Art, Culture, and Entertainment.