{"id":2938,"date":"2026-06-17T14:34:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:34:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2938"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:34:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:34:47","slug":"warning-of-layoffs-wu-moves-to-reverse-city-council-cut-to-transportation-staff-in-4-9-billion-budget-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2938","title":{"rendered":"Warning of layoffs, Wu moves to reverse city council cut to transportation staff in $4.9 billion budget plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mayor Michelle Wu on Wednesday accepted nearly all of the more than $11 million in amendmentsthe Boston City Council made to her $4.9 billion budget proposal, but reversed a move to cut the transportation department\u2019s staff budget in a bid to avoid potential layoffs. <\/span><\/p>\n

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In a letter to the council Wednesday, Wu wrote that the council\u2019s vote to slash $1.4 million from the transportation department\u2019s personnel \u201cwould require layoffs across multiple divisions,\u201d including of parking enforcement officers, transportation planners, and administrative staff, among others. Those cuts, she said, would impact both operations and the \u201creliability of core City services.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of vetoing the amendment, however, Wu proposed an additional change to the budget: moving $1.4 million from elsewhere in the department\u2019s budget to cover personnel, in effect reversing the council\u2019s cut without undoing the council\u2019s decision to shift money to restore cuts to various grant programs. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Wu said the transportation department will absorb the cut she\u2019s proposing to its contracted services budget in other ways, including with plans to \u201cadjust service levels.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The move sends the budget planback to the city council, which is scheduled to meet Wednesday. The council can make additional changes, or accept or veto Wu\u2019s revised budget. Nine of the 13 councilors must agree in order to override a mayoral veto. Councilors are also facing pressure to take action on the budget before the next fiscal year beginson July 1. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wu\u2019s move is the latest development in what has been an especially contentious budget season, as the city has faced skyrocketing cost increases, stagnant tax revenue growth,and outrage from some advocates and community groups over Wu\u2019s proposed budget cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n

The council last week voted, 12-1, to make roughly $11.5 million in changes to Wu\u2019s proposal in an effort to restore funding for several grant programs Wu had proposed to cut. The package of amendments represented just 0.2 percent of Wu\u2019s overall $4.9 billion plan, and included a proposal pushed by Councilor John FitzGerald to slice $1.4 million from the city\u2019s transportation department personnel budget.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he proposed the amendment last Wednesday, FitzGerald said that he targeted funding in the transportation department because he argued \u201cthey have the bandwidth\u201d to absorb the cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a coalition of transit advocates \u2014 including TransitMatters, WalkMassachusetts, and the LivableStreets Alliance \u2014 slammed the decision and urged the city to pursue \u201call possible alternatives,\u201d arguing they could jeopardize critical street safety projects and the city\u2019s ability to compete for state and federal transit grants. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe staff at risk of losing their jobs fix our most dangerous intersections, improve pedestrian crossings near schools and health centers, and optimize our traffic signals to reduce delay for drivers and riders alike,\u201d Reggie Ramos, executive director of Transportation for Massachusetts, said in a statement. <\/span><\/p>\n

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In a letter to the council last week, Ashley Groffenberger, the city\u2019s chief financial officer, warned that city departments have already had to absorb cuts as the administration put together its budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Further cuts, as proposed by some councilors to restore some grant funding, would require layoffs of city personnel and \u201chave immediate and tangible consequences for high-quality service delivery and the City\u2019s ability to meet its core responsibilities to residents,\u201d Groffenberger wrote. <\/span><\/p>\n

The council\u2019s vote last Wednesday came after protesters disrupted and delayed the council\u2019s proceedings for roughly two hours, as they demanded councilors take more drastic action to reverse Wu\u2019s planned cuts. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to a Boston police spokesperson, officers ultimately arrested or sought charges against eight people who laid on the chamber floor and refused to leave, in apparent protest of Wu\u2019s move to cut funding for the city\u2019s year-round jobs program for Boston students and young adults. That program was among the grants for which Wu eliminated funding, along with others that ranged from support for immigrants to resources for food access. <\/span><\/p>\n

Wu has characterized those cuts as painful but necessary decisions to keep the city\u2019s budget balanced as it faces steep cost increases and stagnant tax revenue growth. Like many cities across the state, Boston has struggled to manage skyrocketing health insurance expenses, and higher than expected costs related to snow removal after two large storms this year. <\/span><\/p>\n

The council already approved Wu\u2019s request to take $70 million from the city\u2019s emergency reserve fund to plug deficits in the city\u2019s and Boston Public Schools\u2019 budgets for this fiscal year, which ends June 30. The council earlier this month also voted, 8-5, to pass a $1.73 billion budget for Boston Public Schools, a plan that would cut hundreds of staff jobs next fiscal year.<\/span><\/p>\n

But for weeks, student activists and community groups have called for city leaders to restore funding for the roughly 40 grant programs Wu proposed to cut in the city\u2019s operating budget. They\u2019ve also pushed city councilors to vote to reject Wu\u2019s budget proposal. <\/span><\/p>\n

The council deadlocked on a vote to reject Wu\u2019s budget plan last month, as councilors split on the best course of action. Wu has said protesters\u2019 calls to use so-called \u201crainy day\u201d reserves to fund the programs in jeopardy, or increasing overall spending, would be \u201cfiscally irresponsible.\u201d Wu also told the council she will not pursue either of those options. <\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, she secured private investments to replace the city funding for some of the programs, including for veterans\u2019 services and afterschool jobs for Boston students.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wu wrote Wednesday that the council’s move to cut the transportation department\u2019s personnel budget \u201cwould require layoffs across multiple divisions.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nWarning of layoffs, Wu moves to reverse city council cut to transportation staff in $4.9 billion budget plan - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=2938\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Warning of layoffs, Wu moves to reverse city council cut to transportation staff in $4.9 billion budget plan - 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