Baltimore City Mayor’s Office larger than other jurisdictions

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — As some Baltimore City leaders voice concern over the proposed budget and possible expansion of the Mayor’s office, data shows other jurisdictions have smaller executive offices.

The proposed increase would bring the Mayor’s office staff to 134.

A decade ago, the office had just 39 staffers, growing to 105 by 2025.

“134 people is an insane number for an administration to have,” Baltimore City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer said. “Why does one jurisdiction’s executive need a bigger staff and more money than the governor?”

A spokesperson from the Mayor’s Office said, “These changes occur through various position swaps between the Mayoralty and other agencies. Only one position is a truly new additional role, the rest already existed elsewhere and now are organized under the Mayoralty. None of the 16 positions reflect the addition of any personal political aides for the Mayor.“

Mayor Brandon Scott also said half of the 16 positions in question will be grant-funded. Scott has argued the expansion is necessary for city initiatives, including the Mayor’s Office of Performance Innovation and African American Male Engagement. He noted that some of the increase reflects converting part-time roles to full-time positions, which he says are essential for addressing community issues.

According to census data as of July 2025, Baltimore City had a population of 569,997. Baltimore County had a population of 847,650.

Despite having a larger population, there are 12 people currently working in Baltimore County’s Office of the County Executive. Dakarai Turner, Press Secretary for Baltimore County, said one administrative lead position was transferred into the Executive Office during FY26, and the proposed FY27 budget includes the transfer of three Immigrant Affairs positions to the Office of the County Executive.

“The City workforce is getting larger and larger, even though the population has been decreasing, and we know from surveys that part of the reason the population is dropping is because of high property taxes. And of course, every time the city workforce gets larger makes it more difficult and more difficult to offer property tax relief,” said Jeremy Portnoy, with Open the Books.

“It all depends if they can show some sort of tangible benefit from it, right?,” he added. “But if this is just a position that’s going to add more bureaucracy and more administrative bloat, then it’s less easy to show taxpayers, okay, your money’s being used efficiently, and this is a good expense for the city.”