In 2015, the City of Boston paid $30M to city employees for accumulated vacation, sick and personal days not used. These payouts are not usually publicly noted and are hidden when describing employee costs only in terms of annual salary. (read more. . .)
April 3, 2016 – The annual budget problems facing the Boston Public Schools are not due to the increase in Commonwealth charter school seats in Boston. The charter schools do not receive an unfair share of Boston’s public resources for education.
Read our latest Special Report: The True Costs of Boston’s Charter Schools>
Boston school budget gap filled, for now, but hard decisions remain
By Michael Levenson | The Boston Globe | March 24, 2016
. . .”A more than 20 percent rise in school spending over the past five years — from $815 million to more than $1 billion — has been driven largely by growing salaries and benefits, which constitute 71 percent of the increases, according to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau.”
Check out our 2015 Special Report
Editorial: BPS Budget Realities
By Boston Herald Staff |March 25, 2016
. . . “Nearly a year ago the Boston Municipal Research Bureau put out an analysis of why this relatively small system had grown so expensive and year after year is in fiscal hot water.”
The City of Boston sold $140M of General Obligation (GO) bonds and $8.1M of GO refunding bonds on March 8, 2016. The GO bonds sold competitively at a True Interest Cost (TIC) of 2.26%, an improvement over the TIC of 2.68% in 2015. The City received eight bids and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. was the successful bidder. For the $140M in principal issued, the City will pay $51.7M in interest costs over 20 years. (continued . . .)