City of Baltimore, Maryland

TischlerBise prepared a Transportation Funding Strategy for the City of Baltimore that included a general assessment of alternative funding strategies for transportation needs with specific examples provided for a study area located along the harbor southeast of downtown. First, we discussed ways to improve the current process of conducting traffic impact studies and negotiating mitigation measures. To avoid ad hoc negotiations and a fragmented decision-making process, TischlerBise recommended area-wide transportation studies for specific areas like Southeast Baltimore. An area-wide determination of mitigation payments can provide greater certainty of development costs and more comprehensive planning of capital improvements.

Second, TischlerBise recommended consideration of a legislatively adopted transportation excise tax. The City of Baltimore appears to have authority to impose an excise tax under the Additional Taxing Powers section of the City Charter. Using capital costs and projected development data from the Southeast Area Transportation Plan, TischlerBise derived one-time excise taxes for transportation infrastructure that would range between $0.53 and $0.79 per square foot of floor area.

The first two funding approaches would only require new development to help pay the capital costs of transportation improvements. In urban centers like the City of Baltimore, transportation solutions typically require multi-modal approaches. Because various transit options, such as buses, streetcars, and water shuttles, all require operating revenue (in addition to user charges collected from patrons), revenue sources tied to fluctuating development activity are too unstable for ongoing operating costs. To address this problem, TischlerBise identified two additional funding strategies that would require multi-year payments from all land parcels in a benefiting area.

The third alternative identified was the establishment of a Special Tax District for transportation capital costs. Although special assessments may only be levied on properties that realize some direct benefit from a capital improvement, one advantage of this option is that vacant land must help pay for transportation improvements. According to Baltimore’s City Charter, a special district is authorized for infrastructure improvements and may be funded by ad valorem taxes or a variety of cost allocation methods such as road frontage, parcel size, development potential and vehicle trip generation.

Fourth, our report concluded with a funding strategy for both capital and operating costs (i.e., an additional Community Benefit District Authority authorized by the City Charter). Stable annual revenue would be derived from taxes and/or assessments imposed on all properties within a specific district. Using transportation capital and operating costs from the Southeast Area Transportation Plan, TischlerBise demonstrated two possible cost allocations. The Community Benefit District Authority could annually collect revenue based on vehicle trips generated, by type and size of development, or square feet of land area (i.e. parcel size).