Ballot measure would move Baltimore’s troubled vendor payment duties to comptroller

When contractors finish a job, they expect to get paid. But vendor payment is a perennial issue for Baltimore City, where the most recent finance department audit found 5,253 outstanding invoices — nearly a third of which were overdue by more than a month. This November, Baltimore voters will weigh in on a ballot measure that the mayor and comptroller say will stabilize the vendor payment process. A “yes” vote on Question J would move the oversight of about 10,400 vendor invoices each month out of the finance department and to the Office of the Comptroller.