Illustration of a concrete city hall facade behind rising blue bar charts and a stack of coins, representing Boston quarterly revenue reports.

Boston Quarterly Revenue Reports: Council Weighs Ordinance

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Boston City Council members on Oct. 8 held a hearing on an ordinance that would require Boston quarterly revenue reports to be sent to the council, giving councillors a regular, itemized look at how much money the city has actually collected during the fiscal year. The Committee on Government Operations took no vote, and the proposal remains in committee, according to meeting summaries of the session.

What the Boston Quarterly Revenue Reports Ordinance Would Do

The measure, Docket #1099, was filed on May 29, 2026, by Councillors Brian Worrell, Miniard Culpepper and Julia M. Mejia, with Councillors Breadon, FitzGerald, Flynn, Louijeune and Murphy also listed on the filed text. It would amend Chapter 5, Section 1.5 of the City of Boston Code to add one sentence: the Supervisor of Budgets “shall be required to provide quarterly revenue reports detailing all revenue collected to date by item, no later than 30 days after the end of the fiscal quarter.”

The ordinance would take effect immediately upon passage and includes a standard severability clause. It does not change who sets revenue estimates. As the filing itself notes, the City Council currently has no power to set the city’s estimated revenues.

The Sponsors’ Stated Case

The sponsors’ preamble lays out their reasoning. It says the council already receives quarterly expenditure reports, as required by the City Charter, and that under an earlier arrangement with a former chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, the council had received quarterly revenue reports from the Office of Budget Management. The ordinance would make that practice a standing requirement rather than an informal agreement, so that reports arrive “without request.”

The filing also cites revenue figures. According to the sponsors, Boston underestimated revenue by an average of $216 million a year from fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2025. Setting aside higher-than-expected investment interest, the sponsors put the gap at $171 million in FY22, $244 million in FY23, $144 million in FY24 and $58 million in FY25. They compare the city’s practice with the state’s, where revenue reports are released monthly, and argue that a council asked to approve FY26 supplemental spending and an FY27 budget built on lower revenue estimates should have a clearer view of collections. Those figures and conclusions are the sponsors’ own, as stated in the docket.

What the Administration Said at the Hearing

According to a summary of the hearing published by Govly, the city’s budget director told the committee that revenue is already monitored monthly inside the administration and that quarterly reporting to the council is feasible. He also noted that the reports require review and reconciliation before release and said he considered a quarterly schedule an appropriate cadence.

Councillors and witnesses discussed several possible changes to the text, the summary says, including whether reports should break figures out by month, whether they should be filed with the City Clerk, whether they should be posted online, how much detail each line item should include, and whether taxpayer privacy rules would limit what can be published. Speakers also raised revenue forecasting, seasonal swings in collections, public access to financial data and the revenue effect of major events, including the World Cup. References were made to the FY2026 budget, supplemental appropriations and a reported $5.25 million reduction in youth jobs funding.

Public testimony touched on falling office property values and on building permit revenue, according to ZoneWire’s meeting record, which lists 14 speakers over a session lasting just under two hours: eight councillors, two staff witnesses and two members of the public.

What Happens Next for Docket #1099

Because no vote was taken, the ordinance stays in the Government Operations Committee. Summaries of the hearing indicate the committee could hold a working session to refine language, such as the monthly breakdown and clerk filing questions, before any report back to the full council. An ordinance would need a council vote and the mayor’s signature to take effect.

The same afternoon, the council’s Committee on Ways and Means had scheduled a separate 2 p.m. hearing on Docket #0586, an order sponsored by Councillors Culpepper, Murphy and Worrell to review differences between market value and assessed value for residential properties and to evaluate the city’s tax assessment practices, according to the city’s public notice. That committee is chaired by District 6 Councillor Benjamin Weber.

For background on the city’s current spending plan, see our report on the Boston FY27 budget, property taxes and school funding. Our summary of the Boston City Council’s Oct. 7 meeting covers other items now before councillors.

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