Greetings,

The Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC) is pleased to provide the Greater Baltimore business community and city residents with resources to inform participation in the upcoming Baltimore City elections.

The campaign highlights responses of the leading candidates in the races for Mayor and City Council President to the policy priorities that we believe will help advance the City at a challenging time in its history.

This edition of In Their Words highlights the policy priority of inclusive economic development and specifically asks the candidates to outline three priorities or programs to grow Baltimore's tax base. On Wednesday, we shared responses from the leading Mayoral candidates. Today, we share the responses from the leading candidates for City Council President with you.

The GBC does not endorse candidates; however, we are committed to informing voters about the upcoming election and encouraging all city voters to vote in the June 2 election.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at donaldf@gbc.org .

Be safe, stay healthy and positive.

Sincerely,
Donald C. Fry
Donald C. Fry
President & CEO
Policy Priority

Implement strategic and inclusive economic development strategies to attract and retain businesses and residents.

Question:
What are your top three priorities or programs to grow Baltimore's tax base?

• "Offering new resident vacant property tax credit program.
• Developing opportunity zone tax credit overlay programs in transformational areas.
• Developing opportunity zone live where you work incentives to drive investment and residential recruitment."

"Education Inadequacies in the school system are one of the major reasons that families that have already invested in Baltimore make the decision to leave. We must have quality public school education at all grade levels. Not just for the sake of retention and recruitment of families but an educated citizenry is attractive to businesses looking to relocate and also increases the earning potential of residents. Transportation Baltimore strives to be a 21st century city but does not have a transportation system that efficiently and effectively connects residents to work, school, and commerce. Accessibility by a variety of modes is paramount to a vibrant and thriving city. Homeownership incentives A clear way to grow the tax base is to increase the numbers of individuals who are able to become homeowners. This is even more important in a city like Baltimore that has over 17,000 vacant properties. Transitioning renters to homeownership potentially stabilizes communities and increases the tax revenues generated by the city."

"1) Investing in our schools. Most parents will move to and invest in any community that has excellent public schools. Bethesda for example, has seen continued population growth from high wage families, in part, due to the quality of Walt Whitman and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High Schools. While Baltimore City has other issues that make this task more challenging, for families who want to raise their children in an urban environment, Baltimore could attract those people with high quality schools.
 
2) Stopping Crime. If our streets and schools are not safe, families will not stay or move here.
 
3) A 'Youth Opportunity Guarantee'. Baltimore’s young people need access to meaningful job experience. Without those opportunities, too many young people turn into 'squeegee kids,' or even worse, they may turn to crime. The Youth Opportunity Guarantee would be simple: any student under the age of 18 who wants a job will get one. This would mean an honest income, job experience, and breaking the cycle of crime for many of the young people in the family."

"Reduce homicides, end corruption and stop being a national headline for that reason, and improve the school system. If we can do these things, we will attract businesses and residents. If we don't we won't. These things will require structural change and transformational leadership. Accomplishing these three things will require a comprehensive plan for our city that answers core questions about where we are headed as a city. I am sure you are looking for more specific proposals here, but no amount of tax credits or homeownership incentives or marketing plans will retain and grow our tax base if we cannot finally address the fundamentals. I do have two more specific responses. First, I do think that targeted efforts meant to address the specific reasons people consider leaving the city at various phases of life -- completion of education, young children, retirement, etc. -- can help us retain residents. In the short term targeted interventions are possible that could ease specific burdens that become push factors driving people out of the city. Second, we need to rebuild our city’s Black middle class. There are too many people who grew up in the "Black Butterfly" who cannot imagine raising their own children there because they do not believe their children will be safe and well-educated. There are thousands of people living in West Baltimore County, Anne Arundel and Howard County who would consider returning to the city they grew up in if we could solve our long-term challenges. I personally know so many people for whom this is true. We could be Atlanta on the Northeast Corridor with an aggressive, inclusive approach, and a sense of urgency."

"Reduce property tax by 50% over a ten year period. Significant reduction in violent and person to person crime. Prove Baltimore can run an efficient, competent government by full regular financial and performance audits and the hiring of proven COO caliber directors and managers throughout government."
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