Boston City Council gets $4.9 billion budget plan from Mayor Wu: "Tough budget in a tough environment"

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu presented her proposed 2027 budget to the City Council Wednesday.

It will cost $4.9 billion to keep the city running through the next fiscal year, according to Wu. That's an increase of just 2.1 percent, the smallest budget growth since 2010.

"This is a tough budget in a tough environment," said Ashley Groffenberger, the city's Chief Financial Officer.

She said the budget will grow by $99.4 million, with roughly 98% of that going towards growing employee health care costs, particularly the use of GLP-1 weight loss medication.

"(It's) led to a spike in cost because the pricing of those medications has been so high," the mayor said.

Boston is also facing a budget deficit of nearly $50 million after spending more than expected on snow removal and police overtime.

Groffenberger said the city is relying on its financial reserves to avoid cutting programs like student summer jobs and senior services, while still investing in street safety and infrastructure.

"We're moving forward with capital projects that improve our schools, our community spaces, our parks and our neighborhoods," she said.

The city is ending some grant programs benefiting small businesses and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper said they've cut positions due to vacancies and merging schools.

"Of the 3,000 students, 2,000 are multilingual learners, so our enrollment has been deeply hit, as has happened statewide and nationally, under the federal government," Skipper said.

City leaders will have until June to review and approve the budget.