Boston City Council approves $6.7M police contract, extends tenant protections

BOSTON -- December 3, 2025, Boston City Council unanimously approved a one-year police contract worth $6.7 million and extended the city's condominium anti-displacement ordinance through 2026 at its December 3 meeting. The Boston Police Patrolman Association contract, covering fiscal year 2026, includes a 2 percent base wage increase, a 1 percent hazardous duty differential, and a long-sought requirement that officers wear name tags on duty; Council Ways and Means Chair Brian Worrell called it a bridging agreement designed to avoid large retroactive costs while longer-term negotiations resume in early 2026. The council also moved $506,452 to the Boston Public Health Commission to fund a parallel SEIU Local 888 agreement, bringing total collective bargaining approvals this fiscal year to $65.8 million against a $102.7 million reserve. Councillor Gabriela Coletta Zapata pushed through a one-year extension of the condominium conversion ordinance, set to expire December 31, to prevent a lapse in tenant protections while the council develops a broader update under the 2024 state Affordable Homes Act. In a 11-0 vote, the council also codified the Office of Returning Citizens in city ordinance, an office whose annual budget has grown from $200,000 to $2.5 million over four years.