The Baltimore Office of the Inspector General dropped a public synopsis that put the Mayor’s Office spending under a very bright stadium light. Investigators said staff in the Mayor’s Office violated city procurement card rules by failing to submit required Bureau of Procurement waivers for 336 P-Card transactions totaling $167,455.06. About $52,588.78 of that, the OIG said, went to food and drinks at Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens games. The review looked at purchases between July 1, 2022, and November 17, 2025.
What the OIG found
According to the Office of the Inspector General, investigators identified 295 food or catering P-Card purchases that had no required waivers on file. The synopsis said they also spotted other policy problems, including split transactions, gratuities, and purchases of items the rules prohibit.
In all, the OIG said it isolated about 468 food-related transactions during the review period, totaling $233,426.12. Of that, $52,588.78 was tied specifically to food and beverages bought at Orioles and Ravens games, which witnesses told investigators were purchased from the mayoral suite. The report also called out slow reconciliations and noted that the Bureau of Procurement has just one coordinator handling audits, a setup the OIG warned can let issues sit undetected for months.
Mayor’s Office response
The Mayor’s Office issued an eight-page response included with the OIG materials, stating that the Mayor’s Office takes its obligation to safeguard taxpayer funds seriously, and saying it has begun corrective steps such as retraining and accountability measures. After reviewing that response, the OIG wrote that it does not explain how buying food and beverages at professional ballgames serves a taxpayer benefit, and recommended that the Mayor’s Office review that category of spending.
Recommendations and coverage
As reported by Fox Baltimore, the OIG urged the Bureau of Procurement to work with the city’s P-Card financial institution to restrict certain merchant categories and to set up supervisor notifications when charges are declined. The report also recommended updating the city’s Workday expenditure authorization policies and adding oversight resources, pointing to what the OIG said is more than $36 million in P-Card spending citywide since June 2022.
What comes next
The OIG laid out a list of relatively straightforward fixes: tighter controls on merchant categories, clearer Workday guidance, and faster reconciliations, along with more procurement staff so audits can move more quickly. It will now be up to city leaders to decide how tough the follow-through will be, including whether to seek reimbursements, discipline individual cardholders, or change the rules so similar spending needs pre-approval before it ever hits a P-Card.
Legal and policy implications
The OIG report did not allege any criminal conduct. It did note that policy violations can still lead to disciplinary action and that cardholders may be held financially responsible when waivers and approvals are missing. The city’s Administrative Manual, the synopsis said, requires reimbursement for improperly paid sales tax and bans certain purchases unless the Bureau of Procurement issues a waiver. The OIG concluded that stronger internal controls are necessary to better safeguard taxpayer dollars.
