In less than two weeks, on April 8, Mayor Michelle Wu will unveil a preliminary budget for the City of Boston. The fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget will include operating costs and funding for capital projects spread across the next five years. Here’s what you need to know.

What is the city budget and what does it fund?

The budget for the City of Boston can be broken down into two types of budgets: operating and capital. The operating budget represents funding for day-to-day city services, including schools, the fire department, police department along with salaries and health benefits for those who work in the City Departments. Last year, the city operating budget was 4.8 billion dollars. Boston Public Schools was by far the highest expenditure making up 33% of the city’s expenditures or nearly 1.6 billion dollars. 

For this upcoming year, Mayor Michelle Wu is looking to cut back on spending; Wu recently ordered a hiring freeze and a two percent spending cut across every city department. 

The second part of the city budget is the capital budget. Rather than creating a budget for a single fiscal year, the capital budget is constructed for a period of five years. For this upcoming budget season, the capital budget will extend from FY2027 to FY2031. 

The capital budget covers long-term projects, including improvements on City school buildings, roads, parks, etc. Initiatives in Allston-Brighton, like the reconstruction of the Jackson Mann Community Center or park improvements, will be built into this part of the budget. 

What does FY2027 mean?

A fiscal year is the amount of time that the city budget covers. In Boston, the fiscal year typically runs from July 1 to June 30 of the next year. By extension, FY2027 will cover July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. 

How does constructing the budget work?

Each city department typically submits their budget to the Office of Budget Management in January. From there, the Office of Budget Management reviews each department’s respective budget between January and March. 

The BPS budget operates separately from other city departments. Throughout February, BPS holds two budget hearings: one provides a high-level overview of budget priorities for the upcoming year while the other focuses on school-specific investments. At the beginning of March, BPS then constructs a budget for its central administration offices. Ultimately, it is the School Committee, which is a group of seven individuals appointed by the Mayor to serve four-year terms, that ultimately approves the BPS budget. The Boston School Committee unanimously passed the BPS budget for FY2027 last Wednesday.

Once the city departments and BPS finalize their drafts, Mayor Michelle Wu presents the operating and capital budget to the Boston City Council, a thirteen-member legislative committee (composed of nine district councilors and four councilors-at-large). The Mayor of Boston must submit the preliminary budget to Boston City Council by the second Wednesday of April — or April 8, 2026 for this year.

What happens after Mayor Wu submits the budget to Boston City Council?

The Boston City Council must review the draft budget between April and early June. The City Council has power to make amendments for roughly a third of the city’s operating budget. While the City Council does not have the power to increase the overall budget, the City Council can make amendments for roughly a third of the city’s operating budget (or two billion dollars for FY2027). An amendment means that the City Council can re-allocate budget items between different departments.

The City Council does not have the power to amend line items for the BPS budget, but it can approve or reject the budget.

During this time, the City Council will also hold hearings between April 13 and the end of May to discuss both the capital and operating budgets. 

On June 3, 2026, the Boston City Council will vote on a budget with amendments before sending it to Mayor Michelle Wu. Mayor Wu, in turn, can veto or approve the amendments by June 10. The council can overturn vetoes for some budget amendments through a two-third majority.

On June 24, the city council will vote once more to approve the final budget, and Mayor Michelle Wu must approve the budget by July 1. 

How can I get involved in engagement for the capital budget?

From April 13 to the end of May, the Boston City Council will hold approximately 35 budget hearings on the departmental budgets and the capital budget. Members of the public can attend these hearings and provide testimony. No hearing dates have been scheduled so far for the budget review season.