Mayor Menino has presented his $2.4 billion Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 and he has also presented a five year $1.7 billion Capital Plan, including $168.7 million in new FY 2012 project authorizations. He has presented this to the Boston City Council.
Every important base in a big city budget is tweaked and paid close attention to including the renegotiation of health insurance contracts for municipal employees.
State aid is down again. It has fallen by $218 million since 2002. So increasingly, the city remains responsible for its own ship of state to a greater degree than ever before.
The mayor has remained adamant about trying to keep employed as many city employees as possible.
At this time, the city employs 17,000 men and women.
The capital spending plan touches all of the city’s neighborhoods in one way or another.
The bottom line with this budget is that it is the product of sound fiscal governance by the mayor and his talented staff.
At a time when the entire New England region is still battling the residue of the recession, Boston is impressively moving forward in a variety of places – public school education, with innovative business opportunities and by proving quality services to the city’s residents
And for the first time in more than a decade, Boston’s population is growing.
The FS 2014 Budget is a template for success.
Once again, the mayor shows he knows what he’s doing.
The city is a better place for it.