Baltimore Children & Youth Fund spent roughly $75 million in property-tax money since 2020 with almost no city oversight, inspector general finds

A November 19, 2025 report by Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming found that the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund (BCYF), a nonprofit that automatically receives a dedicated share of city property tax revenue (about $16 million/year), submitted no audited financial statements for fiscal years 2022, 2023, or 2024, and that neither the Comptroller's Office nor the City Council -- which is legally required to hold an annual BCYF oversight hearing -- ever demanded them. Of 10 BCYF invoices reviewed from January 2023 to September 2025, only 3 listed the specific grantees receiving money, and BCYF's own IRS filing showed it spent 36% on administrative/staffing costs, more than double the 15% cap set by a 2020 Department of Finance policy.