The court issued a ruling Thursday after hearing oral arguments Wednesday. It affirmed a lower court decision that deemed the proposal unconstitutional because it would essentially remove “all meaningful discretion” from the city and its elected leaders.
Baltimore’s mayor and city council filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the proposal after organizers, composed of a group of public school teachers, secured the necessary 10,000 signatures to bring the question to voters as a ballot initiative in November. The lawsuit argued that the charter amendment process is meant to address changes to the form and structure of government, not specific legislative or budgetary questions.
The Maryland Supreme Court also issued a similar ruling Thursday on another proposed ballot initiative that would have drastically cut property taxes in Baltimore. City leaders said the cuts threatened to slash the municipal budget to crisis levels.
