Citing a need for more funding, Baltimore officials want to revisit and potentially renegotiate a long-term, $60 million agreement with 14 nonprofit hospitals and universities that calls for the institutions to make annual payments to the city in lieu of taxes, according to The Baltimore Sun.
The agreement was struck in 2016 to help the city pay for public safety and other essential services for a decade.
Hospitals that entered into the agreement include Bon Secours Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine, University of Maryland Medical Center and MedStar Good Samaritan. All operate in Baltimore.
Collectively they pay the city about $6 million per year. They are tax exempt.
Baltimore City Councilman Eric Costello, who chairs the budget committee, said he plans to introduce a resolution calling on the institutions to brief the city council on the deal's "efficacy" and "options for reopening and renegotiating its terms."
The city officials argued that the contract should be revisited because of a looming budget crisis arising from state school reform mandates and other big-ticket expenses.
"It's something that really needs to be looked at again, since we're about to face all these budget difficulties," Baltimore Mayor Bernard Young told the Sun.
While elected officials want to revisit the agreement, the Maryland Hospital Association, which signed the agreement on behalf of the Baltimore hospitals, does not.
MHA President Bob Atlas told the Sun the organization is "disappointed" city leaders want to renegotiate the terms of the agreement.
"This was a deal negotiated in good faith by the Baltimore city hospitals; it’s critical that the agreement stay intact," Mr. Atlas told the Sun.
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