Posted on 07/24/25
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - July 24, 2025 - Nearly two years after the city's redesigned website was supposed to go live, it remains unfinished, and the costs have ballooned to an estimated $3.9 million, leaving many taxpayers frustrated.
David Williams, a taxpayer advocate, expressed disbelief at the situation. "It's inconceivable that in 2025 a city can't build a website," he said.
Initially, the city estimated the redesign would cost $800,000. However, the contract was awarded to a politically connected company, Fearless Solutions, which bid over $1 million—the highest bid. The costs continued to rise, with the company requesting an additional $1 million, bringing the total to $2.2 million. Now, the projected cost has escalated to $3.9 million.
"This is out of hand," Williams said. "Taxpayers need to be refunded their money immediately and there needs to be a deep investigation, the contract, and everything surrounding this website."
The city's Information Technology Office outlined the $3.9 million costs in budget documents. Despite the soaring costs, it remains unclear why they continue to rise. Fearless Solutions completed its work at the end of the contract, but city leaders said the company left the city with an unfinished website.
Inspector General Isabel Cumming reported, "We have been told that the IT department will be finishing the project."
In a recent report, the director of the city's Information and Technology Office stated, "The cost was not the result of uncontrolled spending, but rather a structured response to project demands that became clearer as implementation progressed." The office acknowledged the need for improved planning and more explicit scoping in future digital infrastructure initiatives.
Williams criticized the lack of oversight, saying, "Ten-year-old kids are building websites. It shouldn't take $4 million for a city to build a website."
For a city in financial crisis, the $3.9 million could have funded the salaries of 60 new police officers, 65 new school teachers, or repaired 78,000 potholes. Instead, it has gone toward an unfinished website now projected to go online next spring.
"The problem is nobody was watching," Williams said. "No one was doing the oversight of this website, so whether it's a bells and whistle website or bare bones, they failed the taxpayer from the beginning by not doing constant oversight."