Baltimore City’s Board of Estimates will meet and presumably approve the reinstatement of Midtown Community Benefits District on Tuesday, June 20, the last step in rectifying a screwup by the city council last year that cast a legal cloud over the special district’s legitimacy.
Voters in Bolton Hill and three other midtown neighborhoods – Madison Park, Charles North and Mt. Vernon – voted overwhelmingly in March to keep the special district and its special property tax surcharge in place. In April Eric Souza, the president of Midtown since 2022, announced his resignation.
The Midtown district includes 4,000 properties that house some 17,400 residents who pay a special tax for public services that city government has failed to deliver. The district was created by the state in 1996 to make the neighborhoods “green, clean, and safe” after a referendum among property owners approved a special tax. The state law requires Baltimore’s city council to recertify the special district every four years, which it failed to do last year, forcing a new referendum at considerable expense of time and effort to Midtown.
Bolton Hill has three representatives on Midtown’s interim governing board: BHCA President Lee Tawney serves as secretary; Oge Olkoli represents BHCA, and Fritz Meyer, who lives on Eutaw Place, is an at-large member. Nicolas Cohen of Madison Park, Midtown’s incumbent board chair, also has said he will step down.
Last month Midtown leaders said they collected valuable feedback shared throughout the authorization process and promised in the months ahead to host community listening sessions in each of its neighborhoods. “These gatherings are your chance to tell us what’s working, what’s not, and where there’s room for improvement. Midtown is committed to making this next chapter responsive, inclusive, and informed by your voice,” the organization said.
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