One year ago, I had the honor of being sworn in as Baltimore City’s 17^th Comptroller. It has been an incredible year of progress, despite the COVID-19 pandemic constantly changing the ways we do things and the world around us.

My first year in office has been focused on reinvigorating the Comptroller’s role as the City’s chief accountability officer and examining some of the often overlooked aspects of City government. We are striving to meet the mission of our office in every way, asking the questions our residents want answered and ensuring that tax dollars are being spent as effectively as possible.

Here are some quick highlights from year one:

• We have completely restructured the way our Board of Estimates team works, moving from a mostly administrative perspective to more of a critical reviewing role. That meant reducing by half the number of staff that physically draft the BOE agenda, while doubling the number of people who review and analyze the content.
• The Department of Real Estate generated nearly $1 million in City revenue from small cell applications and real estate transactions.
• Our auditors have moved their focus completely on performance audits. We are on track to complete 15 audits in 2021.
• In 2021 alone, Telecommunications has saved the City $2.4 million through modernization upgrades, with more potential savings on the way.
• Our centralized mailing services save staff time citywide by minimizing agencies’ interactions with the USPS. The Municipal Post Office is able to do many functions in house like zip code sorting and certified mail, reducing costs to the City on each piece of mail we send. The savings on certified mail alone breaks down to over $130,000 per year.
• Over 90% of our office staff are vaccinated – and that’s a number we will continue to try to increase.
• As I promised on Day 1, everyone whose job does not logistically require onsite access now has the ability to telework.

We plan to continue to drill down on these accomplishments and release an annual report this January. My office will hold a virtual townhall on January 19th to present this report and engage the public in an upfront and honest dialogue about this Office’s capabilities, responsibilities and capacity. We are eager to hear concerns, answer questions and gather feedback that will help guide our work going forward.

I want to thank my staff for all their diligence and hard work over the past 12 months. Despite the challenges, I know we have a solid foundation to build upon for next year. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish.

Thanks,

Bill