Boston audit hearing: city posts $88 million surplus; public safety, legal payouts exceeded budgets

March 27, 2025 — The Boston City Council Committee on Post Audit, Government Accountability, Transparency, and Accessibility heard an overview of the city’s fiscal 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report on Thursday, where city finance officials said the city ended the year with an $88 million net surplus while some line items ran over budget.

The surplus was driven by revenue coming in above projections, Chief Financial Officer Ashley Grothberger said: “For fiscal year 2024, we ended the year with a net surplus of $88,000,000 and that was driven primarily by revenue coming in, above projections.” She identified investment interest as the single largest revenue driver, saying the city realized stronger-than-expected returns in a high interest-rate environment.

The report also shows “reportable deficits” on the expenditure side, Grothberger said, with most overspending concentrated in public safety (police overtime and fire) and in “judgments and settlements,” which officials called execution of courts. “These are areas where the city is allowed to exceed expenditure authority to meet the requirements of those particular lines,” she said, and added that overall revenue was sufficient to cover the overages so the city closed the year with the surplus.

Councilors pressed staff for further detail on the size and source of specific overruns. Councilor Julia Mejia, chair of the committee, questioned an apparent discrepancy between two figures she had seen for public-safety overages; she asked whether the difference reflected the difference between city appropriations and the General Fund presentation. City staff replied that the $88 million figure reflects the city appropriations comparison: “The FY24 budget was $1,636,000,000 and we actually spent $1.725 billion for a difference of $89,000,000,” Auditor Scott Finn said when clarifying the numbers.

Councilors also asked about the law enforcement trust fund, which committee members identified as holding about $11 million. Grothberger and others said the trust is a component unit under the treasurer’s authority and that detailed oversight and disbursement questions would require follow up with the treasurer’s office. “This trust fund has $11,000,000,” Councilor Mejia said; Scott Finn confirmed awareness of the account but said it was not under his department’s direct purview.

Committee members asked for additional breakdowns: which departments drove the execution-of-courts expenses, a department-level breakdown of public-safety overspending, and more detail on trust fund revenues and uses. City staff said they would follow up with the committee with more granular departmental data and answers about specific trust funds.

The committee did not take formal action at the hearing; staff and councilors agreed to pursue follow-up briefings and data requests so councilors can examine department-level spending, trust fund rules and receipts, and capital-versus-operating timing that affect year-end balances.

The hearing opened the record for written comments and sign-up for public testimony; no public witnesses were recorded in the session’s public testimony roster.