22-05-2025
How much are the vacant city jobs costing Baltimore? City leaders discuss the consequences.
Hundreds of vacant Baltimore City jobs are coming at a cost, city leaders said during a hearing on Thursday.
The Baltimore City Council addressed the more than 2,700 vacant positions in the city and the related costs and consequences of those jobs being unfilled over a long period of time.
Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen said 530 of those positions have gone unfilled for over the past 18 months.
"That ultimately winds up to about $33 million that is going to go into overtime within these city budgets," Cohen said.
Over-budget on overtime pay
Some Baltimore City agencies have outspent their budgets over the last couple of years to pay for overtime.
"Using these unfilled positions that the city has allocated for," Cohen said.
Cohen said that agencies even asked the city council to pass a supplemental budget.
"Which retroactively grants the agency the ability to spend this money after they've already spent the money," he said.
Recruiting and retaining employees
Cohen said Thursday's hearing hopes to end that practice and bring transparency to taxpayers.
"Look, let's just be honest about the amount of overtime spending that these agencies need," Cohen said.
It also means having a conversation around recruiting and retaining city employees.
Thursday's conversation even led to a discussion about dissolving some vacant positions that haven't been filled in months.
Impact on the police department's consent decree
Cohen said that dissolving vacant jobs could pose a challenge for the police department under a consent decree mandating the agency hire more officers.
"But there are certainly other agencies, including the fire department, where we're not under a consent decree, where I certainly think there could just be a more honest accounting of what's going on within the agency," Cohen said.
Finding out what city agencies need
Cohen said this sets up the stage for budget season beginning next week. He said it will allow the city council to see what each city agency truly needs.
"Making sure that we have enabled each city agency to fulfill their mission to do what they need to do to provide great services for the residents of this city but that they are being honest about their needs and that they're not coming back six months, a year, two years later and asking the council to approve supplemental budgets that they've already spent," Cohen said.
