Boston Parks Department Seeks $35.5 Million Budget With Nine New Positions

BOSTON — May 20, 2024 — Boston's Parks Department pitched a $35.5 million FY25 operating budget to the City Council's Ways and Means Committee on Monday, a 3.2 percent increase that includes nine new full-time employees and 98 capital projects over five years. Committee Chair Brian Worrell presided as Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods and Interim Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space Chris Osgood outlined a plan that dedicates eight of the new positions to Franklin Park and one to the animal shelter, alongside a $200,000 boost for urban forestry funded in part by an $11 million federal U.S. Forest Service grant. Advocates and residents repeatedly noted the department's budget sits at roughly 0.76 percent of the city's total — well below the 1 percent benchmark that Friends of the Public Garden president Liz Visa said would have meant $11 million more this year. Councilor Liz Breadon pressed officials on capital delays in Allston-Brighton, noting McKinney Park has been in the pipeline since fiscal year 2016 with about $75,000 spent on planning alone, while Pace McConkie Jr. of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute testified that the city's burial fund — held at $53,250 per year since its creation — covers only about 8 percent of what the Institute spends supporting homicide victims' families.