News Release

The Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Baltimore Efficiency & Economy Foundation (BEEF) will present "A Roundtable on Baltimore City's Fiscal Future," on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 7:45 to 10 a.m. at the Johns Hopkins Club on the Homewood campus.

The roundtable discussion will address such topics as the options the city faces for raising funds from its own taxes or fees, intergovernmental aid, and the city's efforts to control expenditures. Participants will include state Sen. Robert Neall, Del. Howard P. Rawlings, chair of the House Appropriations Committee; Jeanne Hitchcock, deputy mayor for intergovernmental relations; and Marsha Schachtel, a senior fellow at IPS. Mayor Martin O'Malley is expected to attend.

The forum occurs in anticipation of the opening of the 2003 General Assembly session and release of the interim report of the Commission on Maryland's Fiscal Structure. Those interested in attending may contact Karen Footner at kmfootner@aol.com.

The program is a follow-up to the recent report, "Alternative Revenue Sources and Structures for Baltimore City," authored by Schachtel and colleagues and available on the BEEF website: www.beefbaltimore.org. BEEF initiated the research to explore how other U. S. cities generate significant revenues as well as to determine Baltimore City's own source revenue-raising options.

The Institute for Policy Studies is a public policy teaching and research arm of The Johns Hopkins University. IPS is dedicated to the analysis of public problems and the identification of potential solutions to them, including the challenges confronting Baltimore and the region.

The Baltimore Efficiency and Economy Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand the resources available to city government by providing it information obtained from independent research. BEEF research projects are intended to help the city utilize its resources more efficiently and economically.