Boston Mayor Michelle Wu proposed a $4.28 billion city budget, spending she said, if approved, would provide a “foundation for strong neighborhoods and communities.”
The mayor’s recommended fiscal year 2024 budget, which Wu will present to the City Council at an annual budget breakfast Wednesday at City Hall, represents a 6.8%, or $273.7 million increase over last year’s spending.
This new spending, Wu said, would be invested into five priority areas: family and early childhood programs, green initiatives, public health and public safety, closing the racial wealth gap, and municipal services.
“For city government, our municipal budget is a public reflection of core principles and a roadmap to invest critical resources,” Wu wrote in a Monday letter to the City Council. “For a city resident, our municipal budget should be the foundation for strong neighborhoods and communities.”
Wu’s planned investment in public safety is community-focused, her letter said, which includes an additional $1.2 million in violence prevention and public safety staffing; $582,000 for the police department’s youth connect program, where social workers work in police stations to connect kids to services and support; and $3.3 million to keep “critical low threshold housing sites open” through FY24.
“We are investing in public health, equity and building community trust as core tenets of our approach to strengthening public safety,” Wu said.
Public safety spending also includes $28 million for firehouses and equipment in the fire department, and staff for EMS to maintain response times; and $30 million to redesign safer streets by installing infrastructure intended to slow cars and improve pedestrian access, she wrote.
The budget, Wu said, also supports green initiatives aimed at helping the city become more “resilient in the face of climate change.”
It would provide $50 million to the Boston Housing Authority to invest in “healthier and more comfortable homes,” with modern, fossil-fuel-free systems, and a $5 million housing investment to expand the city’s voucher program, rental relief, and Boston’s accessory dwelling unit program.
A $750,000 earmark would go toward replacing paved surfaces with new trees and green infrastructure, and a cool $1 million would be spent to install electric vehicle charging stations in publicly-accessible places “to help residents switch to zero-carbon-emission vehicles,” Wu said.
Another $550,000 was included to buy $5 Bluebikes passes for 10,000 residents, and $1.4 million was set aside to purchase more of these electric bikes. Wu also pointed to $84 million and $58 million in new capital funds for parks and public transit/city infrastructure improvements, respectively.
Wu said her budget aims to make Boston “the best place in the country to raise a family,” through investments such as $4 million in increased spending for universal pre-kindergarten, which would boost potential enrollment by 350 seats, and $374 million in planned energy-efficiency upgrades for Boston Public Schools buildings.
Her family-focused proposed spending also directs $750,000 to expand weekly and Saturday hours at branch libraries; $43 million for construction of new libraries in Codman Square, Fields Corner and Egleston Square; and $178 million for community pool rehabilitation.
The largest chunk, or 40%, of city spending would go toward public education, particularly the Boston Public Schools, which has a recommended operating budget of $1.45 billion, boosting total K-12 spending to $1.7 billion.
“This $84 million increase in FY24 represents 31% of the total new city resources across all categories of spending,” Wu wrote. “Public education spending remains over 40% of our city budget, and per-pupil spending at BPS will reach $28,900, an increase of $1,800 over the prior budget as adopted.”
Wu noted this year’s school budget is a transitional one, with a portion of soon-to-run-out pandemic emergency relief funds set aside in the general fund, to sustain certain positions and avoid cuts to student services, “as we plan for FY25 and beyond.”
She also pointed to a substantial investment in public school buildings through her recommended $4.2 billion capital plan for fiscal years 2024-28.
This five-year plan includes $147 million for state-of-good repair maintenance to city bridges, stairs and walking paths; $64 million for sidewalk upgrades and handicap-accessible curb installation at all intersections; and $94 million for central facility improvements, including at City Hall and the Plaza.
Other notable upgrades include $6 million for the city’s 311 help line for residents and roughly $13.5 million toward initiatives aimed at closing the racial wealth gap in Boston, including half a million dollars to train residents from underrepresented communities for careers in the life sciences field.
“While the public conversation for every budget tends to focus on the new investments, it is the billions of dollars of sustained investments that most directly impact our residents and our city,” Wu said. “Our ability to sustain and grow these investments stems from strong and stable financial management.”