BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore’s Office of the Inspector General identified more than $4.4 million in financial impact during fiscal year 2026, highlighting alleged waste, fraud, improper spending and management problems across city government in its annual report.
The report, released by Inspector General Isabel Cumming, said the office received 907 complaints during the fiscal year, issued 26 reports and referred 96 matters to other agencies. The office reported 43 active cases and 35 pending cases.
Among the most significant findings were problems involving a multimillion-dollar city website redesign, fraudulent electronic payments, overtime spending, purchasing-card expenses and the use of federal pandemic relief money.
“This year alone, those complaints and the OIG’s subsequent investigations have resulted in over 4.4 million dollars in identified waste,” Cumming wrote in a message accompanying the report.
One of the report’s most significant findings involved Baltimore’s website redesign project.
The city’s Office of Information Technology received proposals from two companies. One offered to complete the project for $306,250, while the company ultimately selected proposed a contract costing more than $1 million.
The selected contract was later increased by nearly $888,000 and extended by three months. Another $250,000 increase followed, bringing the contract to more than $2.2 million. The project remained unfinished two years after the original contract was accepted, according to the report.
The city subsequently spent another $2.6 million to complete the project. The OIG said the project had cost at least $5.6 million as of its review.
The OIG also investigated two electronic payments made to a fraudulent bank account in 2025. The payments totaled more than $1.5 million. One $700,000 payment was recovered, but the other $800,000 had not been recovered when the report was issued.
The office recommended that the city’s Accounts Payable division train employees to recognize fraud and establish policies requiring the immediate reporting of suspected fraud and theft.
Another investigation examined the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services and overtime payments to vendor employees. Between fiscal years 2023 and 2025, workers logged 13,304.31 overtime hours, costing $744,559.56, according to the report.
The OIG said the office did not maintain organized records of employees’ hours, forcing investigators to search through boxes of documents. The agency was given recommendations for improving its timekeeping procedures.
The report also detailed spending through city purchasing cards, or P-Cards.
The OIG found that employees in the mayor’s office spent $167,455.06 without approved waivers. That included $52,588.78 at Baltimore Ravens and Orioles games and $148,802.93 in food orders.
The report cited several individual expenses, including multiple $740 crab cake orders and $155 chicken tender orders at M&T Bank Stadium. It also said $3,636.09 was spent on a farewell party for an executive who moved into another city role and remained on the payroll.
The office also identified more than $10,000 in flower purchases, which the report said are prohibited when using P-Cards.
The OIG raised concerns about the use of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for music at Artscape 2025. The city ultimately spent $582,809.02 in ARPA funding on the event, including $516,150 for music talent, according to the report.
Other investigations focused on employee leave practices. The OIG identified $312,555.86 in payments tied to “permission leave” and extended leave for employees separating from city employment.
The report also described an investigation into a city employee accused of making violent and threatening statements about coworkers. The OIG said the employee’s communications appeared to violate the city’s technology-use policy. The investigation was submitted to the mayor and city solicitor in late 2025, and the mayor responded in early 2026 that appropriate action would be taken.
Not all of the report’s findings involved financial losses.
The OIG said it investigated conditions at Department of Public Works facilities after complaints about inadequate heat protections and found improvements after referring the matter to the department. Those changes included additional access to ice and water, air-conditioned facilities, shuttle service and required breaks during high temperatures.
The office also investigated conditions at the Druid Sexual Health Clinic, where temperatures reached as high as 86 degrees and caused some HIV and hepatitis C test kits to become unusable. The clinic eventually relocated its services to another facility.
The annual report comes as the OIG continues to fight with the mayoral administration over the office’s independence and access to city records.
Baltimore voters approved a 2018 charter amendment that made the OIG independent and allowed the inspector general to issue subpoenas directly. A 2022 amendment established a citizen advisory board to oversee the office.
Cumming said the administration refused to properly respond to OIG subpoenas during the past year, leading the office to pursue litigation.
“Without access to records that is not possible,” Cumming wrote, referring to the OIG’s ability to conduct independent investigations.
The OIG’s fiscal 2026 budget was $2.37 million, according to the report. The office said that equates to about $4.16 per Baltimore resident based on a city population of approximately 570,000.
2026_oig_annual_report_9PDF preview
The office said its mission is to independently promote accountability, efficiency and integrity in city government by identifying waste, fraud and abuse.
“Wherever the evidence leads is the path we take,” Cumming wrote. “We pursue the truth with an objective mind, without prejudice, and regardless of politics.”
