Last Wednesday, Mayor Martin Walsh released his $3.29 billion fiscal year 2019 budget proposal which shows a 4.3 percent increase from FY18 and includes a $1.1 billion Boston Public Schools budget, an additional 80 million to reconstruct the Long Island bridge, $5 million towards transportation improvements and $2 million to implement police body-worn cameras.
The majority of the city’s projected revenue, 70 percent, will come from property taxes and 14 percent will be funded by state aid.
On the web
Fiscal Year 2019 Budget for the City of Boston https://budget.boston.gov
Budget summary PDF: https://bit.ly/2H7YJVU
Summary of new parking fines: https://bit.ly/2J3L5Qf
Education
The Boston School Committee approved the BPS budget with $30 million set aside to increase teacher salaries and $2.4 million for eight additional nurses and 12 additional psychologists and social workers.
These new staff additions will bring the number of schools with a full-time nurse to 74 of the district’s 126.
Although the city is touting the school budget as the “biggest in history” critics say the administration is double-counting the extra $30 million that was in the budget last year for teacher salary increases and that schools are still cutting programs and positions. By that reckoning, this year’s budget represents a 1.5 percent increase over last year’s BPS spending.
Rehabilitation
The three-year, $92 million, Long Island bridge project, which includes $12 million reserved from a previous capital plan, will be funded through a combination of the City’s general obligation bonds and parking meter fund.
Although a contentious topic, Walsh had promised to rebuild the bridge during his 2017 mayoral campaign as part of his efforts to increase addiction recovery services.
In 2014, because of the bridge’s deterioration, Walsh ordered an emergency evacuation of all the homeless and rehabilitating residents on the island.
In addition, the city is also investing $1.8 million to make the Engagement Center, a resource center for homeless or low-income individuals, a permanent program in the Newmarket Square neighborhood.
Transportation
According to the mayor’s office, the budget’s transportation investments will address traffic congestion through sidewalk repairs, re-timed traffic signals, increased bike infrastructure and six new staff positions dedicated to improving the MBTA bus system.
The $5 million devoted to these improvements will be funded by the city’s strategic set of increases to parking fines.
“Altering the City’s current parking fines will encourage better compliance with existing City laws and bring Boston’s fines in line with some peer U.S. cities,” reads a press release on the city’s website.
For example, the double parking fine for Zone A and Zone B will be raised from $45 and $30 to $75 and $55 respectively. The overnight street cleaning fine is going up from $40 to $90 and an unpaid meter fee will be $40 instead of $25.
Public Safety
The mayor’s budget also emphasizes new public safety initiatives, including most notably, the permanent adoption of police-worn body cameras that is expected to take effect in July within the Boston Police Department.
Anti-police brutality activists in Boston have been advocating for this accountability tool since 2014.
The $2 million body camera investment is described as a “phase-in” of the program, in anticipation of the final data findings from Northeastern University. City officials had previously estimated it would cost $6 million to implement police-worn body cameras citywide.
The city will be adding 30 additional police officers, another cadet class of 20 graduates in the spring, 20 new EMTs and eight ambulance replacements with newer vehicles.
Housing
Although representing a small portion of the budget, Mayor Walsh is doubling the Department of Neighborhood Development’s down payment assistance program for homeowners to $1 million.
Additionally, he is setting aside $150,000 for flexible financial assistance for low- and moderate-income households facing a housing crisis who are not eligible for existing programs; $125,000 for expanded legal representation and stabilization services for renters facing eviction in housing and district courts; and a $35,000 increase for the Emergency Housing Assistance Program to assist residents displaced by fire, condemnation, natural disaster and other events.
According to a press release from the mayor’s office, the administration is on its way to reaching the Boston 2030 housing goal of 53,000 housing units with 26,000 units already completed or under construction, and another 26,000 under review.
