Baltimore City Comptroller Bill Henry accused Mayor Brandon Scott on Monday of reneging on a promise to support moving the city’s audit department to the auspices of the City Council, while pledging to press forward with another charter amendment that could strip the mayor’s appointment power on Baltimore’s spending board.

In remarks made during a council luncheon, Henry asked outgoing Council President Nick Mosby to refrain from introducing legislation that would allow voters to approve a charter amendment transferring the Department of Audits from his office to the City Council. The reason for holding off was because Scott, after promising to support the bill after last month’s mayoral primary, ultimately withdrew his support, effectively dooming its passage, Henry said.

Baltimore’s strong-mayor style of government ensures few council bills pass into law without the mayor’s support. Mosby, Henry, Scott, and all 14 council members are Democrats. Mosby will leave office in December after losing a three-way race to Councilman Zeke Cohen. Henry won reelection in an uncontested race.

“[Scott] just wanted to wait until we got past the election so that it was not part of the election conversation,” said Henry, referring to the mayor’s 14-point victory over challenger Sheila Dixon. “But then, after the election was over, he changed his mind. And so we will not be moving forward with that.”

The Department of Audits is housed within the City Comptroller’s Office, which is a part of the executive branch.

“It seems silly to send audits back to the mayor,” Henry said. “The council is really the more appropriate place, we agreed, in terms of the oversight function of the legislative branch.”

In a follow-up statement issued via spokesperson Geoff Shannon, Henry said the mayor’s reversal made “it impossible to move forward with these vital reforms in time to get them on the ballot this fall.

“This shift in commitment has been very disheartening, given our long-standing and shared belief that these kinds of government reforms are important for Baltimore’s well-being, going forward,” Henry said.

Instead, the comptroller told council members he would start shoring up support for another charter amendment that could erode Scott’s power by shrinking the city spending board to three members.

Currently, the Board of Estimates has five members, composed of the mayor, council president, comptroller, and two mayoral appointees. Under legislation Mosby proposed last month, after the primary, the mayoral appointees, who are currently the city solicitor and public workers director, would be struck.

Henry said he would reach out to meet with each council member individually to gauge their support for the amendment, which could be presented before voters on the Nov. 5 ballot, if the council and mayor agree. Then-councilman Scott introduced a similar bill in 2020, but postponed a vote on it after winning his first mayoral term that June, citing concerns that split votes could stall contract approvals. The vote was never held.