The Baltimore City Council approved Mayor Brandon Scott’s $4.6 billion spending plan with $7 million worth of amendments Monday, giving the authority for fine and fee increases despite a campaign by Council President Zeke Cohen against the idea.

The 13-2 vote, one of only two budget votes that have not been unanimous since Scott took office in 2020, came after a series of spirited budget hearings and weeks of heated negotiations.

At issue was Scott’s plan to increase fines and fees for a number of city services including landfill tipping, EMS transports, and taxis and rideshares to fill an $85 million gap between the city’s revenue and expenditures.

Cohen and others on the council objected to the increases, arguing residents can ill afford the hikes as rates on utilities and other costs spike. Throughout budget hearings, council members argued to instead make a wholesale cut to vacant City Hall positions that have sat open for more than 18 months to free additional funds. Proponents said the plan would make the city’s budget more “honest.”

The final deal, settled over the weekend, calls for a $2 million increase to immigration funding, answering a plea from council members and the community for more support in light of a federal immigration crackdown.

The budget was also amended to include an additional $400,000 for Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates’ office to conduct reviews of police body camera footage. Bates asked for additional funds to continue the work after state grant funds expired.

The state’s attorney both won and lost in the final agreement, however. After a failed vote in committee, the full council approved an amendment moving $112,000 from his office to the office of Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming to pay for an additional investigator dedicated to probing the city’s Department of Public Works. Cumming, whose office has issued multiple reports last year on work conditions at the agency, requested the additional position.

The amendment passed by a vote of 11 to 4, with some members questioning why the funds were coming from Bates’ office rather than a different city department.

“This is not a political statement,” said Councilwoman Odette Ramos, the amendment’s sponsor. Ramos noted the position to be eliminated from Bates’ budget to pay for the job in the inspector general’s office has sat vacant since before he took office in 2022.

The council’s amendments freed money for new expenditures by making several cuts, most notably $1.2 million from the Baltimore Police Department for vacant civilian positions and $4.1 million from a miscellaneous line item in mayor’s office budget that attracted council scrutiny during budget hearings.

With some of the savings, the council increased its own budget by $2.9 million. That money will be available to council members to hand out to community groups in their districts, city finance officials said.

Increases to fines and fees, which the administration argued were long overdue, were largely unchanged in the finalized budget. The city’s landfill tipping fee, paid by waste haulers dumping at landfills and the incinerator, will double from $67.50 to $135 in the final budget, producing an estimated $8.9 million in revenue.

The cost of ambulance rides will increase by 20% for all non-Medicaid recipients, producing an estimated $5.5 million for city coffers. And the cost of hailing a car will also rise, slightly, with the city taxi tax slated to increase to $0.38 a ride from $0.25 a ride. The city expects $1.95 million in additional revenue as a result.

Other yet-to-be-determined fines and fees are also set to increase under the spending plan. A study of city fees is still underway to determine which of them can be increased to account for $6.5 million in revenue included in the budget. City finance officials have said there could be increases to parking violations, littering and illegal dumping.

The administration abandoned a plan to change the way the city’s bag tax is distributed as part of the budget. Officials had hoped to increase the city’s share of the tax, increasing revenue by $240,000.

The finalized budget holds the line on property taxes in the city.

Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer was one of two members to cast a vote against the budget. Schleifer, a Democrat representing Northwest Baltimore, said he could not vote for a plan that placed a higher burden on residents.

“I think now is the wrong time to raise taxes and fees, especially on our most vulnerable populations such as older adults who already have come before the council and said they’re choosing between their oxygen tanks and their utility bills,” he said.

Councilman Mark Conway, who also voted against the spending plan, said his concern centered around the city’s Children and Youth Fund. The mayor’s spending plan calls for using about $7 million from the fund to help pay for Youth Works, the city’s summer jobs program.

Conway said he believes the fund transfer violates a provision in the city’s charter that authorizes the fund. That charter stipulates the fund could not be used to cover budget costs in 2017, the first year of the fund’s existence. Conway proposed an amendment that would have funded Youth Works by pulling funds from other city agencies including the Health Department. The proposal got just one vote, from Conway himself.

Council President Zeke Cohen praised the mayor’s staff and his own for their professionalism during the budget process. Pulling a purple basketball from beneath a lectern in council chambers, Cohen tossed the “game ball” to Chairwoman Danielle McCray, who oversaw budget hearings.

The mayor must still approve the budget, a formality given his staff’s negotiation of the final deal with the council. Baltimore’s charter requires a budget to be finalized by the end of June. The new fiscal year begins July 1.

In an emailed statement, Scott thanked the council members for their work and partnership in finalizing the budget.

“Tonight, the City Council overwhelmingly voted to pass this budget. I’m grateful to leaders on the City Council and my team for their unwavering commitment to delivering a balanced, equitable budget, which I now look forward to signing into law,” Scott wrote.