Boston City Council Weighs $1.7 Million Mental Health Pilot Amid Calls for $4 Million Community Model

BOSTON — May 21, 2026 — Boston City Council scrutinizes Public Health Commission FY27 budget as mental health pilot debate divides advocates and officials. The Committee on Ways and Means held a lengthy afternoon hearing Wednesday on dockets 0733 through 0740, with BPHC Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu and Budget Director Chris Valdez presenting a proposed budget showing a 1.6 percent year-over-year appropriation increase, after a fringe benefit restructuring that spared the commission from service cuts that would have exceeded $4 million. Boston EMS Chief Jim Hooley reported that median citywide response times dropped from 7.5 to 6.8 minutes between January and mid-May 2026 compared to the same period last year, and that transport billing generates just under $40 million annually. A peer-led mental health crisis response pilot, budgeted at $1.7 million over 22 months, drew repeated questioning from Councillor Tania Fernandes Anderson Culpepper and drew a wave of public testimony from the Boston People's Response Campaign, whose speakers — including social workers, therapists, youth, and EMTs — demanded the council reject the mayor's proposed FY27 budget and add $4 million for a fully community-led, non-police, non-carceral model designed by residents starting in 2020. BBPA EMS Division representatives noted that Boston EMTs are paid nearly 60 percent less than firefighters while handling comparable call volumes; the base annual salary for a new EMT is $74,418.