Somerville Passes Budget for Fiscal Year 2025 with Major Investments in Core City Services and Workforce Equity

On June 20, 2024, the Somerville City Council passed the Ballantyne administration’s proposed $360 million Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budget, delivering on Mayor Katjana Ballantyne’s key investments in schools, City services, and workforce equity.

"Through the FY25 budget, we're sustaining the historic investments of the past two years while affirming our resources and dedicated staff can continue driving our community forward,” said Mayor Ballantyne. “I’m grateful for the invaluable support of our City Council. Along with all of our fantastic public servants, I’m ready roll up my sleeves and get to work implementing our new budget.”

Highlights of the FY25 budget include: 

• More than 36 new, net full-time-equivalent positions for Somerville Public Schools 
• Funding for union contracts, closing gender gaps, and ensuring fair and competitive wages for City workers. 
• New City staff positions to help better meet the needs our communities. Newly funded roles include: 
  • Homelessness Coordinator, to address issues impacting Somerville’s unhoused residents. 
  • Wage Theft Coordinator, a role championed by the City Council to help ensure local workers are fully compensated. 
  • Civilian Crossing Guard Supervisor, to support safe routes to school.
• A robust array of programming and service initiatives to help protect our residents’ health, safety and well-being including: 
  • Outfit and staffing of new Assembly Row fire station. 
  • A curbside composting pilot to advance climate action goals for energy efficient waste management (funded off budget). 
  • A transition away from rodenticide in City and School buildings to safer approaches to rodent control. 
  • Additional funding for the Affordable Housing Fund (AHTF): $3.3M addition to the fund bringing its total to nearly $30M. 

The final budget was passed with minor changes to the Mayor's May 30, 2024, proposal. To read more about the City of Somerville’s FY25 budget, please visit somervillema.gov/budget

Persons with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication (i.e., CART, ASL), written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to access the programs, activities, and meetings of the City of Somerville should please contact Adrienne Pomeroy in advance at 617-625-6600 x 2059 or apomeroy@somervillema.gov.

Efforts to secure interpretation into any language will be made upon advance request (at least seven days in advance) by contacting the SomerViva Office of Immigrant Affairs at somervillema.gov/ContactSomerViva or calling 311 at 617-666-3311.