The city financial health system needs a strong, responsible and competent authority.

City councilors of Boston have decided to take the extreme step of changing the charter of the city. Lydia Edwards, Councilor of District 1 until April of 2022, held a virtual hearing on raising a ballot question for municipal elections scheduled for the next year. The proposed idea was that voters could have an option to amend the city’s charter so that the City Council can introduce its own #budget, also edit the budget of the Mayor and allow residents to allocate a percentage of the budget.

Public opinion and suggestions do matter, but the financial decisions should be taken by a competent authority when you have a responsibility towards a strong financial system. Equal budgetary powers for the council may reduce the city ratings, which in turn will reduce the city's credit. Impact on Boston’s credit rating could jeopardize current and future projects and hamper the overall development of the city and could raise concerns when it comes to future investments.

Political director at the Center for Economic Democracy, Alex Papali says, “Participatory budgeting is a way to shift the current dynamic and engage everyday folks into the civic life of the city.” In my opinion, engaging everyone is fine to a certain extent, but when it comes to the financial health of a city, an experienced and competent authority needs to handle the process. A dual decision system could pose financial risk, potentially resulting in more harm than good.

Further, there is always the chance of a possible conflict between the City Council’s budget and Mayor’s budget, which could delay the budget approval process. Boston Municipal Research Bureau president Pam Kocher says that instead, counselors should learn how to best use the power they already have. Kocher says “We think that if there’s two competing powers tossing the budget proposals back and forth to each other, there’s a bit of a lack of accountability."

We already have a strong and responsible system in place, and sharing the mayor's power with the city council could be a disastrous decision in terms of possible impact on the credit rating and future of the city.