Somerville Passes FY24 Budget with Major Investments in Affordability, Youth, & Infrastructure

On June 22, 2023, the Somerville City Council passed the Ballantyne administration’s proposed $337.4 million Fiscal Year 2024 budget, delivering on Mayor Katjana Ballantyne’s key investments in City services, programs, and the advancement of community priorities. The budget prioritizes investments in core services such as schools, rodent control, traffic safety, and ADA compliance, as well as in resources needed to advance the community’s ambitious goals, from supporting youth, seniors, and vulnerable residents to advancing affordability, taking on infrastructure challenges, developing equity across all functions, and pursuing climate action goals. 

A key new innovation funded in the budget includes a number of mobile initiatives that bring services out into the community directly to constituents, including a new Community Health Worker program, funding for a walking Equity Outreach Team, two jail diversion clinicians working in the community, and a social worker at the Somerville Public Library, as well as continued and greater support for two neighborhood-based teen centers.  

The final budget passed with minor changes to the Mayor’s proposal, shared on May 26. Based on City Council resolutions, additional funds were put into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and in the Office of Housing Stability budget, and a new staff position was created to support planning around affordable housing through zoning. The City also amended the proposal during the budget process to add a position to support school infrastructure projects, primarily the Winter Hill and Brown schools.

“This budget charts a course not just for the year ahead, but for long-term progress to improve the lives of all Somerville residents,” said Mayor Ballantyne. “We are putting our equity goals into practice, as reflected in our funding priorities and in our collaborative approach to budgeting this year and in the future. I’m grateful to my colleagues on the City Council for their partnership on this budget, their thoughtful questions, and their due diligence on behalf of our community. I’m excited to get this work started.”  

The FY24 budget was developed through inclusive engagement with the community and City Council. The Administration evaluated all new investments based on four criteria: equity, sustainability, responsive government, and recommendations from the Work Better Task Force, an internal task force aimed at improving the work environment for staff as well as the productivity of the organization to ultimately best serve residents. This systematic review helped to ensure those values are incorporated across departments and investments.  

Investing in Our People 

The FY24 budget builds on last year’s historic 10% increase in the Somerville Public Schools budget with a 7.8% increase for the Schools this year, including $500,000 for out-of-school-time programming by both the Schools and the City. It also includes $240,000 to continue running the City’s two teen centers launched in 2022, as well as two new full-time staff positions to support teen center programming and operations. 

To better serve Somerville’s most vulnerable residents, several investments will bring essential services out of City Hall and into the community. A $150,000 investment will establish a new Community Health group within Health & Human Services, with initial funding for three community health workers who will work in local neighborhoods to improve health outcomes. A $120,000 investment will permanently fund a multilingual walking Equity Support Team within the SomerViva Office of Immigrant Affairs to assist all departments citywide in connecting residents across Somerville to information and services. Funding is also included for two permanent staff positions in the Council on Aging and expanded programming for older adults in technology, health, and wellness. The budget is also complemented by continued ARPA funding to expand on this year’s successful overnight warming center for unhoused persons during extreme winter weather. 

The FY24 budget also invests in programs and services focused on affordability, particularly for underserved communities and artists. Two new staff positions in the Office of Housing Stability will expand case management and outreach capacity, and a new Housing Counsel legal position will support affordable housing programs and investment. A new Food Access Coordinator will advance food-security initiatives across the city. Arts space to rehearse and produce is also an urgent need. This budget includes funding to open a new dance/movement facility and to permanently fund a Space Coordinator within the Arts Council to help connect artists with space to work, practice, and perform.  

 
Addressing Legacy Infrastructure Challenges 

From City buildings and schools to roads and underground systems, Somerville’s infrastructure suffers from decades of deferred investment. This budget addresses legacy challenges and prepares for the future by supporting the delivery of healthy, sustainable facilities and expanding systems for proactive maintenance. Among other investments, $200,000 will support vital Infrastructure and Asset Management systems, to support both long-term projects and improved maintenance procedures. A new Building Systems Manager will oversee preventative maintenance of all facility and utility systems, refrigeration, HVAC, plumbing, emergency generators, fire protection, and electrical systems. A new Traffic Engineer will expand capacity for roadway reconstruction and safety improvements. This budget also includes $375,000 for interim paving of the eastern portion of Highland Avenue, one of Somerville’s most traveled roadways that has long been in disrepair as the City continues work on the long-term future of the corridor. A new ADA Field Associate will also add technical expertise to oversee Americans with Disabilities Act compliance across the city. 

 
Supporting Climate Action and a Healthy, Resilient Environment 
 
This budget embeds sustainability across services to advance the City’s climate action efforts. A new Sustainability Planner will support citywide resiliency and building-decarbonization efforts and co-chair a new Resiliency Task Force. Another $100,000 is allocated for two climate action feasibility studies. The first will help identify viable sites for a first-of-its-kind pilot project with Eversource to bridge the gap in electric capacity connection between the electric grid and buildings. The second study will identify viable sites for geothermal projects. This budget also funds a new Environmental Health position to support rodent control efforts and biosafety. With the Green Line Extension fully operational, this budget also includes $500,000 to provide yearlong MBTA passes for all City and Schools staff, supporting sustainable, equitable transit. (Further T-pass programs for Somerville Public School students, parents, and guardians, as well as low-income residents, are funded via the Schools budget and ARPA.)
 

Scaling City Services  
 
To deliver on Somerville’s ambitious goals and provide excellent core services, this year’s budget makes a number of investments in the staffing resources needed to advance this work. A number of new deputy and project management positions will advance critical projects and improve service and program delivery. A critical $364,000 investment will support a suite of Information Technology upgrades that will increase efficiency. To expand and improve language access and accessibility across City services, increased funding is dedicated to ASL and CART services for public meetings, language and interpretation services, and a new Language Justice Specialist position to advance the City’s language justice plan.
 

Additional Investments 

Among other investments, the budget also includes new funding for the following: 

• An Emergency Management Director and Emergency Communications Officer 
• Design of a Miyawaki Forest behind Somerville High School 
• A pilot program to provide free personal sanitary products at City buildings 
• A youth-focused needs assessment 
• A pilot program to offer summer Sunday hours at the Somerville Public Library East Branch 
• A Human Resources Employee Engagement Specialist position  
• Bike lane markings and traffic signal redesign 
• A Senior Traffic Engineer position 
• Adding closed captioning to GovTV and EdTV programming 
• Sensitivity training for City staff  
• Additional capacity within the 311 Constituent Services Center to meet growing demand for service 
• A Senior GIS Manager position

For more information, go to somervillema.gov/fy24budget.    
 
 

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 in order 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.