Menino Submits $2.6B Budget To Boston City Council

Mayor Thomas Menino on Wednesday submitted a $2.6 billion spending plan to the Boston City Council. The operating budget for Fiscal Year 2014 would represent a 5.6 percent increase over current spending levels.

In a press release, the mayor's office said the spending plan "includes initiatives that keep Boston at the forefront of reinvention: changes at Boston Public Schools to increase access to quality, new housing to meet the needs of young professionals and middle-class families, and online learning for Boston’s neighborhoods."

The budget features some elements Menino first outlined with a recent speech to business and civic leaders, such as plans for 30,000 new housing units by the end of the decade and 10,000 more mobile computing devices for public school students. It also calls for designated "girls only" time at certain Boston Centers for Youth & Families.

The spending plan sets the budget for Boston Public Schools at $935 million (a $61 million increase over current levels) and outlines, out of the city’s five-year capital plan, $196 million worth of new project authorizations in 2014.

Two weeks ago, Menino announced he will not seek an unprecedented sixth term in office. The budget, the press release notes, "provides funds for a smooth and stable transition" in January 2014.

-- The city also released a "movie trailer" about its spending plan: