Boston City Council authorizes $200 million bond refund, advances school and COVID hearings

BOSTON — February 9, 2022 — Boston City Council unanimously authorized up to $200 million in municipal bond refunding and advanced five major hearing orders at its February 9 virtual session. Council President Edward M. Flynn presided as the body passed Docket 0158 on a unanimous roll call, with Ways and Means Chair Councilor Fernandez-Anderson reporting the city had already refunded $300 million in bonds this fiscal year, saving an estimated $3.5 million in debt service over 10 years. Councilor Julia M. Mejia introduced the Boston Fair Chance Act, citing city data showing employees of color make up 48.9 percent of the workforce but are concentrated in lower pay bands, with some 30-year veterans passed over for management roles. Councilors Flaherty and Murphy sounded the alarm on Boston Public Schools enrollment, now down 14 percent since 2016 and 4,311 students short in the current year, warning that weighted student funding losses could force layoffs and school closures with 700 BPS positions already vacant. Councilor Baker filed a $10 million ARPA appropriation request for a Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester field house on Columbia Point, while Councilors Baker and Murphy also called for a hearing on the city's COVID-19 emergency declaration, noting case counts had plunged from 3,729 daily new cases on January 10 to 336 on February 8 as the Public Health Commission's data dashboard sat unupdated since September 30, 2021.