The Boston City Council tentatively approved roughly $465 million for capital improvement initiatives over the objections of one councilor, who criticized the administration for failing to follow through on earmarked projects in prior years.
The capital projects span a number of city departments, including police, fire, transportation, public works and the housing authority, along with Boston Public Schools, which received the most funding for improvements.
The funds, approved by the City Council on “first reading” and “assigned for further action,” represent authorizations for the city’s fiscal year 2025 capital budget, which help to fund the city’s $4.7 billion capital plan for FY25-29, according to Council Vice President Brian Worrell, who recommended their passage as chair of the Ways and Means committee.
“The projects funded by the capital budget have a significant impact on the quality of life for Boston’s residents,” Worrell wrote in his committee report. “They maintain and improve our infrastructure, enhance our mobility, ensure our safety and provide necessary open space for both residents and visitors to enjoy all that Boston has to offer, including Boston’s neighborhoods.”
Worrell joined several other councilors like Tania Fernandes Anderson, Enrique Pepén and Benjamin Weber in speaking favorably about the investments being made in the districts they represent, which they said had not always been the case for neighborhoods like Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury.
Not all councilors were as excited about the mayor’s capital investments earmarked for Council approval, however, with Liz Breadon, who represents Allston and Brighton, expressing concerns about how the administration has failed to move on projects she had been excited to see funded in past years.
Breadon pointed to certain projects that have been in the works in her district for many years, such as park improvements and replacement of a K-8 school. The city’s track record on those and other stalled projects, some of which are earmarked for funding again, have her “skeptical” of this year’s plan, she said.
“I have some very serious concerns about the process,” Breadon said. “Some of these things are hanging out there for 10 or 12 years. It’s not a plan if it’s not executed.”
Breadon joined Councilor Julia Mejia in voting against a $184.78 million appropriation for capital improvement purposes for major city departments, which was approved via an 11-2 vote.
She voted in favor, however, of two other capital appropriations — roughly $240 million for BPS improvements and $40 million for equipment upgrades throughout school and city departments that passed by a 12-0 vote with Mejia absent.