Prepare for Week 6 of Boston’s FY25 Budget Season
One more budget hearing got scheduled late last week and it played a big role in last year's budget battle; plus a SECOND hearing on Mayor Wu's Commercial Tax Hike and an update on White Stadium
This is the sixth week of Boston’s FY25 budget season, and it should be the last week where BPI will have budget hearings to preview. There is just one preview this week and it includes:
Which departments and offices are appearing at each hearing;
Where to find each hearing’s focus in the 1,194 page budget book;
The FY25 vs FY24 numbers from the budget book for that hearing;
Highlight which spending priorities laid out in the budget letter on pages 3 to 6 are for that hearing’s topic; and
What BPI is watching for in each hearing.
Last week BPI touted the Thursday, May 23 hearing for Boston Public Schools’ long-term facilities plan presentation as the final budget hearing, but that same afternoon the Council filed the new final budget hearing.
Keep reading to find out about the new ‘last budget hearing of the session,’ along with the three other budget-related meetings the Council is holding this week:
On Monday at 10 AM the Office of Participatory Budgeting is going before the City Council - this is the new last budget hearing of the session, pending any additional notices. The timing was so short that the hearing didn’t even make it onto the Council’s own budget hearing tracker. This hearing is important because in 2023 the effort to massively increase Participatory Budgeting’s budget was what drove the Council to cut the budget for Veterans and Boston Police and caused a showdown between the Council and Mayor Michelle Wu. Just like last year, this year the Wu administration’s proposal for Participatory Budgeting is way below advocates’ requests, so this is an important hearing to gauge Councilors’ appetite for another battle with the Wu administration over this issue.
The Council is hearing public testimony on Tuesday night at 6 PM - that is happening in the Iannella Chamber and is televised.
The Council is working on their own budget proposal in Amendment Working Session 3 and 4 on Thursday at 2 PM and Friday at 10 AM. These two meetings are both happening in Piemonte Room and are open to the public, but are not televised or recorded. These public but not televised meetings have recently been making news:
This year BPS Superintendent Mary Skipper’s promise to District 7 City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson to present a new plan for the O’Bryant School by the end of the 23-24 school year was made during a Piemonte Room meeting - read more from BPI about how Skipper appeared to break that promise last week; and
The idea not to pass the Boston Public Schools’ FY25 budget - which was highlighted in Ways & Means Chair Brian Worrell’s letter about the FY25 budget - was discussed in the first Amendment Working Session, which was held in the Piemonte room.
In addition to budget work, the Council is holding a number of hearings, including one on the proposed tax increase on commercial properties that has drew strong opposition from the City’s business community:
Wednesday, May 29 at 10 AM the Post-Audit, Government Accountability, Transparency, and Accessibility Committee is holding a meeting on a hearing order from the Committee chair Councilor Meija to look into discrimination in hiring and promotion in the Boston Police Department and the Boston Public Schools. With budget hearings having just brought most of the City’s senior bureaucrats in front of the Council for hours of questioning it is not clear what new information this hearing is intended to surface.
Wednesday, May 29 at 1 PM the Landmarks Commission White Stadium Sub-committee is holding a virtual meeting. The LC’s involvement in this project was a point of contention in the letter that Commissioners sent to the Wu administration back in April charging political interference in the body’s work. The presentation in the public notice is focused on details in the stadium itself, so do not look to this meeting for more on on parking or how spectators will get to the location.
Wednesday, May 29 at 2 PM the Government Operations Committee is holding a hearing on creating an Office of Inspector General in the City of Boston. This ordinance was originally put forward by then-District 4 City Council Andrea Campbell in the wake of a corruption scandal that included the Boston Planning & Development Agency and the City’s Board of Zoning Appeals, and has been re-submitted by Councilor At-Large Julia Meija - read more about the ordinance in BPI’s WTR from April 5.
Thursday, May 30 at 10 AM the Government Operations Committee is holding their second hearing on the home rule petition to increase taxes on Boston’s commercial properties - the first hearing was held during April vacation on April 16th and you can read the transcript here. BPI wrote about the home rule petition when it was first proposed - in the letter that accompanied the tax hike proposal Mayor Wu characterized the current office values decline as “the short term challenges of certain parts of the commercial office sector” - the letter starts on page 28 of this City Council agenda packet. BPI disputed that conclusion at the time, and since the Wu administration filed the petition in April more and more experts watching Boston and the national CRE market have released research backing up BPI’s concerns.
WEEK 6
TUESDAY, MAY 28 AT 10 AM IN THE IANNELLA CHAMBER
Office of Participatory Budgeting
Where to find in the budget book:
Office of Participatory Budgeting is from page 677 to 681
Operating Budget Numbers in FY25 and FY24:
Office of Participatory Budgeting - $2,126,966 in FY25 vs $2,000,000 in FY24
From the Mayor’s Letter:
The office is not mentioned.
What BPI is watching for:
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In last year’s budget process participatory budgeting became the center-piece of the Council’s counter-proposal to the Mayor’s FY24 budget. The attempt to massively increase spending on participatory budgeting failed, and this year the Wu administration again budgeted tens of millions of dollars less than advocates asked for. The composition of the Council has changed significantly from last year, with ousted District 5 and District 6 City Councilors Ricardo Arroyo and Kendra Lara playing leading roles in last year’s budget fight. With so many new faces on the Council and in leadership this hearing will be an opportunity to gauge the 24-25 Council’s appetite for another battle with the Wu administration over this issue.
Is there something you are watching for in a budget hearing either this week or in the coming weeks? Email BPI at info@bostonpolicyinstitute.org to let us know!
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