Boston City Council Ways and Means Budget Hearing on Environment, Food Justice, Revolving Funds - April 22, 2026
Boston City Council Ways and Means Budget Hearing on Environment, Food Justice, and Revolving Funds - April 22, 2026
The hearing, chaired by Councilor Ben Weber, reviewed the FY27 budgets for the Environment Department, the Office of Food Justice, and the Conservation Commission, Distributed Energy, and Birdo revolving funds. The panel, led by Chief Brian Sweat, presented proposed budgets with reductions of 2.1% for the Environment Department and 14% for the Office of Food Justice, while emphasizing preserved services and a focus on affordability.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Gregory Maynard (Boston Policy Institute) noted that the Office of Historic Preservation was missing from the hearing and urged a standalone budget hearing, citing past controversies.
- Elena Straffenberger (ABCD) recommended increased city investment in food security programs, citing rising food costs and SNAP changes affecting 40% of Massachusetts households.
- Alex Tobman (ABCD/Boston Food Access Council) urged reversal of cuts to Double Up Food Bucks and farmers market coupon programs, stating they are critical for food access.
- Hassan Faruqi (Boston Climate Action Network) supported maintaining staff investments and called for sustainable long-term revenue to avoid future cuts.
Discussion Items
- Environment Department Budget: Commissioner Oliver Sellers Garcia detailed a 2.1% reduction achieved by shifting contract services to revolving funds temporarily. Accomplishments included the third round of Clean Air grants, conversion of gas street lights to LED in Bay Village, solar installations saving $415,000 annually, and the Boston Energy Saver program leveraging $50 million in Mass Save incentives. The department also saved $61.8 million in avoided electricity costs since FY15 and identified a reclassification saving $2.3 million in FY27.
- Birdo Compliance: Extensions to August 15 were explained as a response to new flexibility measures. The city expects 80-90% of buildings to meet emissions limits. Free technical support continues. The Equitable Emissions Investment Fund has about $3 million initially, with remaining funds of less than half, and first alternative compliance payments expected.
- Office of Climate Resilience: Director Chris Osgood highlighted the shift from planning to implementation, including the nine-acre Madahunt Urban Wild restoration, Charlestown flood risk reduction infrastructure, and a heat research agenda. Capital budget includes $75 million coastal resilience reserve plus projects like Border Street and Lewis Street.
- Office of Food Justice: Director Eliza Wasserman reported a proposed budget of $109,852 for personnel and $610,000 for contracted services, plus $500,000 from participatory budgeting. Programs like the farmers market coupon program ($418,625 in FY26) and Double Up Food Bucks (using a federal grant ending June 2026) are maintained. Cold storage grants from ARPA are ending. The office is developing a food access dashboard and supporting SNAP access.
- Councilor Questions: Several councilors probed the impact of cuts. Councilor Flynn asked about Birdo financial impact on nonprofits; the panel noted compliance plans exist. Councilor Braden raised heat island and tree canopy issues—40% of new trees planted in climate justice neighborhoods. Councilor Colletazapada inquired about coastal resilience capital and food access budget details. Councilor Culpepper pressed on the 14% cut to OFJ contract services, asking if it was a decision by the department or OBM. Chief Sweat explained it was a collective decision to preserve core programs. Councilor Murphy asked about contingency plans if federal grants do not materialize.
- Tree Canopy: The city added 150 acres of canopy from 2019-2024, with increases on public land offset by losses on private residential lots. The urban forestry unit prunes trees on a 5-7 year cycle. A pilot in Chinatown uses above-grade planters due to underground utilities.
- Substations: Chief Sweat noted six new substations needed in the next 10-15 years to meet demand, with community engagement on location and mitigation.
Key Outcomes
- No votes were taken; the hearing was informational for the council’s budget review.
- The panel committed to providing written follow-up on: details of federal grant losses, exact balance of the Birdo revolving fund, list of positions impacted by hiring freeze, and specific impacts of cuts on food justice partners.
- Councilor Weber announced future budget hearings: April 23 morning for Labor Compliance and Law Department, afternoon for participatory budgeting and street safety.
- Public testimony and council dialogue emphasized the need to protect food security programs and climate resilience investments amid budget constraints.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. My name is Ben Weber. I'm the District Six City Councilor and the Chair of the Boston City Council on Ways and Means. Today's April 22nd, 2026, and the exact time is 10.06 a.m. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being live streamed at Boston.gov/slash city dash council dash TV and broadcasts on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, and FIOS Channel 964. The channels uh sorry, the channel, the council's budget review process will encompass a series of public hearings uh which began uh last week and will run through June. Uh we strongly encourage residents to take a moment to engage in this process by giving testimony for the record. You can do so in several ways. First, you can attend one of the hearings and give public testimony. We'll take public testimony at the end of each departmental uh hearing and also you can uh testify in person at two uh uh public testimony listening sessions. The full hearing schedule is on our website at boston.gov slash council-budget. Our scheduled hearings dedicated to public testimony are in person at City Hall on Tuesday, April 28th and 6 p at 6 p.m. and again on Thursday, May 26th at 6 p.m. You can give uh testimony in person here in the chamber or virtually via Zoom. For in-person testimony, please come to the chamber and sign up at the sheet sheet near the entrance for virtual testimony. You can sign up using our online form at our uh council budget review website, or by emailing the committee at ccc.wm at Boston.gov, or by emailing uh Krishma Choan, that's K-A-R-I-SHMA dot C H O U H A N at Boston.gov. When you're called to testify, please state your name and affiliation, your residence, and limit your comments to a few minutes uh to ensure all comments and concerns can be heard. Um in lieu of uh uh personally testifying, you can email your written testimony to the committee at ccc.wm at Boston.gov, or you can also submit a two-minute video of your testimony through the forum on our website. For more information on the city council's budget process and how to testify, please visit the city council's budget website at Boston.gov slash council dash budget. Um we'll be taking in-person testimony uh at this hearing, this morning's hearing after the first round of counselor questions, individuals will be called on the order in which they've signed up, and we'll have two minutes to testify. If you wish to sign up uh for public testimony, have not done so already. Again, you can uh sign up at the sign-up sheet, uh, or if you're a virtual, please email our uh director of legislative budget analysis, Chris Machon at K A R I S H M A dot C H O U H A N at Boston.gov for the zoom link and your name will be added to the list. This morning's hearing is on docket numbers 0733 to 0740 and dockets uh zero seven four four to zero seven four six. Uh an overview of the FY27 budgets for the environment department, the office of food justice, and the following revolving funds conservation commission, distributed energy, and birdo. Uh this is one of a series of hearings to review the FY27 budget. Uh for my colleagues' information. This is the uh first year the Birdo Revolving Fund uh has been filed with us. Um these matters were sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu and we're referred to the committee on April 8th, 2026. Um we uh we are joined by my colleagues in order of arrival. No surprise here, councillor Flynn and then Councilor President Braden. Um let's see. Uh we've received a letter of absence from Councillor Santana. Uh I'm now gonna introduce the panel. Uh we have with us this morning. Oliver Sellers Garcia, Commissioner of the Environment, Energy, and Open Space. And Liza Wasserman, Director of the Office of Food Justice. I don't know if the panelists have presentation, anything they want to opening statements. Do you want us to go through the brief presentation first? I think I think that would be so we're waiving opening statements in these budget budget hearings. So the panel, the floor is yours. Great. Thank you so much, Council Weber, for the opportunity to present. We have a few brief slides just to set the context. Sorry, this is fast. So in terms of uh thank you for introducing us, uh brought obviously my colleagues with me to help present um some successes from the current fiscal year budget uh and the return on investment there and our uh our proposed budget uh that is under your consideration for the next fiscal year. We the orchard not making any might be at the end where it used to be. Sorry, we can flip the order of some of these slides. Go back to the um so just in terms of grounding uh what we're covering here today. The environment energy and open space cabinet uh for the city is composed of five uh offices and departments currently.
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