Boston officials report FY2024 surplus and higher legal and OPEB liabilities at ACFR review

Boston — City finance officials told the Boston City Council’s Committee on Post Audit, Government Accountability, Transparency, and Accessibility on March 20 that the city closed fiscal 2024 with an $88 million budgetary surplus but faces growing long-term liabilities and some recurring spending pressures.

Councilor Julia Mejia, chair of the committee, opened the hearing on the city’s 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR), saying the session was intended to “give the administration an opportunity to go a little bit further, in helping us understand the financial health of this city.” The administration presented top-line ACFR figures and answered councilors’ questions for roughly an hour.

The nut graf: The ACFR shows strong near-term results driven largely by unexpectedly large investment income, but accrual-based financial measures record an unrestricted deficit and rising long-term liabilities. Officials told the committee that legal liability estimates have increased because of probable outcomes in pending cases and that personnel costs — especially public-safety overtime — drove most of the year’s operating overrun.

Chief Financial Officer Ashley Grafenberger, City Auditor Scott Finn and Budget Director James (Jim) Williamson led the presentation. Grafenberger described the ACFR as a GASB-compliant accounting presentation audited by KPMG and said the city’s cash and investment balance was “just over $3,100,000,000.” She also said the general fund held a cash and investment balance of just over $2,000,000,000 and an unassigned fund balance of…