“Why did Baltimore need to pay outside consultants half a million dollars for a report that says the city’s financial future is grim?  Public Financial Management Inc. of Philadelphia won the contract in 2011 with a proposal to charge the city $460,000, beating two other finalists whose work would have cost taxpayers $500,000 and $507,000, respectively.  But the scope of the needed work grew over the past year, and city officials added another $125,000 to the deal — meaning the consultants were paid $585,000 in all.”