City Budget

See the Fiscal Year 2024 Proposed Budget Here

Previous fiscal year budgets

• FY23: View/Download FY23 budget
• FY22: View/Download FY22 budget
• FY21: View/download FY21 budget pdf
• FY20: Download budget PDF
• FY budgets through FY13: Click here to view budgets through fiscal year 2013

March 20, 2024 S&P Global Credit Report for Medford, MA

The Mayor’s budget prioritizes several key areas for investment, including parks, climate action, and education. 

(MEDFORD)—The Fiscal Year 2024 City of Medford Proposed Budget has been delivered to the City Council for approval at the earliest date in the last two decades, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn announced. The proposed operating budget total is just shy of $205 million, with the City General Fund (excluding the Water/Sewer Enterprise Fund) totaling $179,150,897.79. 

“Thanks to incredible work of our finance team led by our Finance Director Bob Dickinson and Budget Manager Courtney Cardello, as well as my Chief of Staff Nina Nazarian, we have delivered a comprehensive budget to the Council at the earliest date ever in my 22 years in government,” Mayor Lungo-Koehn said. “By working across departments, we’ve been able to craft a responsible budget that responds to the needs of the community, makes smart, targeted investments in several fundamental areas and sets our City up to weather any potential financial uncertainties.” 

The administration will be submitting the proposed FY24 budget for a Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Award. The City was previously awarded this distinction for its FY21 budget proposal during the Mayor’s first year in office. 

Among the areas highlighted for investment: 

• Upgrades to affordable housing units at the Medford Housing Authority. 

• Expansion of climate friendly transportation infrastructure. 

• $5 million worth of upgrades and renovations to our parks and open spaces. 

• Additional Student Resource Officers and upgrades to materials and Math, Literacy and Health curriculum for our students in the district.  

• Invested $3.5 million for upgrades and renovations to several Fire stations in the community, as well as over an additional $20 million to be put into the reimagined headquarters. Selected The Galante Architecture Studio, Inc. (TGAS) to design and envision a new Fire Department Headquarters 

• Secured over $400,000 in state funding to expand climate resiliency efforts and emergency preparedness efforts through our community liaisons, who are working to increase accessibility and communication around city services. 

• Utilizing a new digital platform, BetterTeams, that increases our reach of qualified candidates and despite the nationwide staffing shortage, we’ve been able to hire exemplary candidates for several senior staff level positions in the past few months. 

• Expanding our tree canopy system with the planting of over 200 trees this year through Community Preservation Act and ARPA funds. 

• And so much more! 

For a complete breakdown of goals, initiatives and priorities, read the Mayor’s budget message here. A digital version of the FY24 Proposed budget is available here.  

This is the first time Medford has received the prestigious national GFOA Award for its municipal budget.

 The award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting.

 

The City of Medford has received the “Distinguished Budget Presentation Award” from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the Fiscal Year 2021 municipal budget, Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn announced today. Medford submitted the FY21 budget for consideration in September 2020, and GFOA awards were announced in March 2021. This marks the first time the City of Medford has received the award, the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting. According to the GFOA, the award “represents a significant achievement” by a municipality that “reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meet the highest principles of governmental budgeting.”

In order to receive the award, the City must publish a budget document that meets the stringent GFOA program criteria as a policy document, as a financial plan, as an operations guide, and as a communications device.

“Meeting the stringent criteria set forth by GFOA for the FY21 Budget was among the first goals I had when coming into office last year,” said Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. “We will look to improve on the work already begun and continue to present a budget that is balanced, clear, transparent, and easy to navigate. I am incredibly proud of the hard work put in by the City’s budget team in meeting the high expectations for this award and delivering in one of the most challenging budget cycles in history.”

The award was presented to the City of Medford following the submission of the FY21 budget, during which Mayor Lungo-Koehn’s administration completely overhauled the budget layout to include in-depth analysis of each department, its year-over-year expenditures, and accounting. In August 2020, the City’s bond rating agency also affirmed the City’s long-term bond rating of AA+ with a “stable outlook” for the City’s credit, citing strong financial practices and policies, and more robust budgeting and planning framework contributing to a stable financial profile.

“When building the FY21 budget we had a clear mission – deliver a responsible, on-time budget that met the Mayor’s goals of transparency and clarity. This would be a challenge in a normal budget year, but was made all the more complicated by the pandemic, and the economic and fiscal issues that came with it,” said Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin, Finance Director/Auditor for the City of Medford. “We are excited to be recognized by GFOA for meeting that challenge and are looking forward to building on last year’s work in the upcoming budget cycle.”

Mayor Lungo-Koehn and City staff are currently preparing for Fiscal Year 2022 and have made further improvements to bolster the City’s budget process and enhance transparency for the Medford community. Early in 2021, the City hired an Assistant Finance Director/Budget Manager who will spearhead the budgeting process, and the City is expanding its contract with ClearGov – used to provide the City’s fiscal transparency platform – to modernize Medford’s budget development and presentation process to a cloud based, interactive system for use across the City administration.

The FY21 budget is available for public review here.

 

Medford city services are available to all residents, regardless of economic situation, immigration status, ability, benefit eligibility, or religious affiliation.