Council committee reviews 10 workforce, youth and tax-assistance grants totaling about $2.53 million

On April 3, 2025, the Boston City Council Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development heard presentations on 10 grants totaling about $2.53 million that the Office of Workforce Development (OWD) would administer for tax-assistance, youth employment and career-center services.

Committee Chair District 6 City Councilor Benjamin Weber read the docket entries into the hearing record and said the committee will bring the measures to the full City Council for a vote next week. "I'll bring them before the council, I think, at the next meeting, next week, for a vote," Weber said.

The package includes two federal- and state-funded tax-preparation grants and multiple awards for youth programs and career-center operations. Constance Martin, who manages the mayor's financial empowerment work in the Worker Empowerment Cabinet, described the Boston Tax Help Coalition and the city's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) work: "Last year, we filed over 12,000 free taxes in Boston ... This saves the average household about $250," Martin said, and she added the coalition generated about $22 million in refunds and roughly $7.3 million in earned-income tax credits for residents.

Tanisha De Leon, deputy director of YOU (Youth Opportunities Unlimited) with OWD, summarized the youth-program grants and how the funds are used.…