Mayor Scott Touts Historic Crime Drops, New Tools to Keep Residents Housed

Twelve years after Regina Hammond started organizing in Johnston Square, the East Baltimore neighborhood she helped rebuild has a 109-unit apartment complex, a new library branch, and residents who could still lose their homes over property tax debt.

Hammond, founder and executive director of the Rebuild Johnston Square Neighborhood Organization, stood on stage at Baltimore Center Stage last Tuesday and told Mayor Brandon Scott's State of the City audience what her neighborhood had decided: "Tonight, I stand here representing a community that refused to be defined by vacancy."

Those 109 apartments, the Hammond at Greenmount Park, rose from 42 vacant lots. The Johnston Square branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, which opened alongside it, was the first new city library branch in 15 years. Mayor Scott's new public investment map, unveiled at the March 31 address, pins both projects to their specific addresses, charting city-linked spending in every Baltimore neighborhood since his inauguration on December 8, 2020.

The map, however, also makes visible the risk that transformation creates. Johnston Square's long-term homeowners now live in a neighborhood with rising investment and, for many, a growing stack of deferred property tax bills. Baltimore's existing Tax Sale Deferral Program lets residents postpone annual payments, but deferred bills compound. The new $2 million legacy homeowner pilot Scott announced Tuesday is designed to clear that debt entirely, next year, for those who qualify and comply.

To be eligible, a resident must be 65 or older, have owned their Baltimore home for more than ten years, and earn less than $73,000 a year. They must enroll in the Tax Sale Deferral Program by April 15, complete financial literacy courses, and enroll in a payment plan. The Office of Older Adult Affairs is conducting outreach through mid-April. Money is first-come, first-served.

Neither program existed before this address. The Tax Sale Deferral Program predates Scott's tenure; the debt-clearance layer on top of it does not. The Security Deposit Assistance Program, which will offer renters one-time grants of up to $2,000 to cover upfront move-in costs, is also new.

Scott's crime numbers gave the address its headline claim: 133 homicides in 2025, the lowest in nearly 50 years, and a 60 percent decline in homicides and nonfatal shootings over the past five years. "After years and years of 300-plus homicides," he said, "there were 133 in 2025."

The two housing programs together draw the line Scott framed as "block by block": bring the investment, then prevent it from pushing out the people who stayed when no one else would. With $2 million available and a ten-day window to the April 15 enrollment deadline, how aggressively the city reaches older homeowners in the coming days will largely determine who actually benefits.

CAN YOU QUALIFY?

Legacy Homeowner Tax Debt Pilot: You are 65 or older, have owned your Baltimore home for more than 10 years, and your household income is under $73,000 a year. You must enroll in the Tax Sale Deferral Program by April 15, 2026, and complete required financial literacy courses. Qualifying homeowners will have outstanding property tax bills cleared next year. Funds are limited and awarded first-come, first-served. Contact the Office of Older Adult Affairs to start the enrollment process.

Security Deposit Assistance: You are a Baltimore City renter who needs help covering an upfront security deposit. One-time grant of up to $2,000. Contact the city's housing office or visit the State of the City program page for application details.