Boston City Council reviews $24 million ISD budget and capital portfolio in FY25 hearing

BOSTON — April 29, 2024 — Boston City Council reviews FY25 budgets for inspections, property management, and public facilities. The Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Councilor Brian Worrell, heard presentations from Inspectional Services Department Commissioner Del Rio, Property Management Commissioner Eamon Shelton, and Public Facilities Executive Director Carrie Griffin at the April 29 hearing. ISD's proposed FY25 budget totals nearly $24 million, almost entirely for personnel, and the department projects $65 million to $70 million in total revenue this fiscal year, down from a roughly $90 million outlier year in FY24. Griffin's department is managing approximately 109 active capital projects valued at around $1.8 billion, including the on-schedule, on-budget Cotta School MSBA project. Councilor Julia M. Mejia drew attention to the retail residential kitchen permit program, passed in 2021, after Del Rio's staff confirmed only five licenses have been issued under it — prompting calls for aggressive outreach. Councilor Sharon Durkan raised short-term rental re-approvals that proceed automatically without violation checks, and Councilor Liz Breadon pressed for the restoration of publicly accessible code-violation data sets that have been partially removed from Analyze Boston.