Wu preparing for the worst on Boston budget due to Trump

Politics

Mayor Michelle Wu spoke about city budget updates on “Java with Jimmy” Wednesday, keeping potential federal funding cuts in mind.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said federal uncertainty has her planning for worst-case scenarios as she prepares the city’s budget this year.

Wu spoke on the “Java with Jimmy” online radio show Wednesday and said the city administration and Boston City Council are proactively working through the process together. But recent actions from the Trump administration are making Wu more cautious.

“This year, we really wanted to be intentional,” Wu said during her segment.

Working with city council ahead of budget talks

The administration partnered with City Council Vice President Brian Worrell, also chair of the Ways and Means committee, to begin conversations about what should be included in the budget months before the first draft’s due date.

This preparation led Worrell, on behalf of the city council, to send a letter Tuesday to Wu recommending “key investments” be made in the budget.

Wu sent a response letter to the council, thanking them for making “proactive and collaborative improvements to the budget process” that will better reflect both parties’ priorities beginning in the first draft.

But in Wu’s response, she made clear that the federal changes enacted by the Trump administration will have an impact on the city’s response in negotiations.

“As we incorporate the Council’s feedback and priorities, this year’s budget must reflect fiscal discipline to protect Boston’s community and economy in the face of federal uncertainty,” Wu wrote.

She touched on this notion in her segment on “Java with Jimmy.” The state receives $300 million every year in federal funding and Wu said the city must prepare for the worst-case scenario regarding those funds.

“We’re seeing federal funds right now being used as a threat, or if there’s a disagreement on policy or values, they’re pulled,” Wu said. “We’re budgeting in a way, even though locally we’re strong … we could manage through that and keep everyone stable.”

Wu also noted that the administration should not be “jumping out ahead” and cutting critical city services in order to save money.

Federal uncertainty affecting the budget

With Worrell’s aid, around 35 public hearings were held for the budget beginning in February, according to the city’s budget page. 

“Instead of the council getting the budget and then starting to think about it and look at it, when everything was separated into buckets already, [Worrell] started having hearings with the administration and the public a long time ago,” Wu said on “Java with Jimmy.”

The investments City Council suggested in Worrell’s letter included support for food and housing insecurity, protecting diversity and inclusion, investments in quality of life issues, expanded programs for youth, community safety, increased small business assistance, government productivity, and capital projects.

Typically, the mayor drafts the budget to be submitted by the second Wednesday of April. Councilors then send back their budget amendments and then engage in a process Wu described as “ping pong” with the administration. Nearing the final deadline of the second of June, when the council has to vote on it, the two parties discuss “really small tweaks.”

The first budget draft will be discussed on April 9. Traditionally, a “budget breakfast” is held that day but Wu said that this year, fiscal discipline measures will extend to the breakfast.

“We’re tightening up everywhere, so it will be like budget muffins instead of a budget breakfast,” she told “Java with Jimmy” while laughing.