Boston City Council passes $2.2 billion amended FY2024 budget in 7-5 vote

BOSTON — June 14, 2023 — Boston City Council approves amended $2.2 billion FY2024 operating budget on a 7-5 vote. Ways and Means Chair Tanya Fernandez Anderson shepherded a $52.9 million council amendment package — pared down from an earlier $75 million proposal — through hours of floor debate before the split vote on Docket 0760, with the school department budget (Docket 0761) passing separately 11-1. Opponents including Councillors Edward M. Flynn, Flaherty, Erin J. Murphy, and Gabriela Coletta Zapata cited roughly $30 million in proposed Boston Police Department reductions — approximately 58 percent of total amendment funding — and $900,000 cut from the veterans services budget as grounds for their no votes. Supporters including Brian Worrell and Ruthzee Louijeune called the vote a first step in a collaborative process with Mayor Michelle Wu. Among the largest proposed increases: $10 million for participatory budgeting, $9 million for Youth Employment and Opportunity, and $8 million for the Mayor's Office of Housing. A council veto override of a website-transparency ordinance failed to reach the required two-thirds threshold, falling 6-3 with several members absent.