City Council - Ways & Means Committee Hearing on Dockets #0733-0740, 0757, FY27 Budget: DoIT, PEG Access Fund

• Date: April 27, 2026
• Governing Body: Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means
• Meeting Type: Budget Hearing
• Chair: Councilor Benjamin Weber
• Councilors Present: Edward Flynn, Erin Murphy, Sharon Durkan, Miniard Culpepper, Liz Breadon (Council President), Brian Worrell
• Panelists:
  • Santi Garces, Chief Information Officer (Virtual)
  • Kerry Jordan, Chief of Staff, DoIT
  • Sheila Lee, Director of Operations, DoIT
  • Brian Donahue, Digital Equity Officer and Director of Broadband and Cable

Chief Information Officer Santi Garces provided an overview of the proposed FY27 budget, emphasizing a shift from contractual services to in-house personnel to drive efficiency and security.

• Financial Trends:
  • Personnel costs increased by approximately $500,000.
  • Contractual services decreased by over $750,000.
  • Equipment expenditures have trended downward from $4 million in FY24 to a recommended $1.3 million for FY27.
• In-House Savings:
  • Employee Self-Service Migration: Saved $1.2 million by performing the transition in-house rather than using a vendor.
  • Boston Data Hub: Saved $1 million in professional services and $200,000 annually in licensing costs by migrating to a cloud data infrastructure internally.
• Service Metrics: DoIT supports 413 different services across 43 technical teams, managing 12,000 service requests since October 2025 with a median resolution time of 3.75 days.

The department is replacing legacy systems to improve constituent experience and data reliability.

• CRM Replacement: The 20-year-old 'Lagann' system is being replaced by a new constituent relationship management system powered by Creatio and OpenGov.
• Asset Management: The new system tracks specific city assets (e.g., traffic lights, benches) to identify recurring issues and prioritize capital expenditures.
• Permitting Transformation: A new hub at boston.gov/permitting was launched to clarify requirements. The goal is to move from administrative permit types to project-based guides (e.g., 'refurbishing a bathroom' or 'building a deck').

The committee discussed efforts to bridge the digital divide and the financial health of community media.

• Wicked Free Wi-Fi: Expanded to Nubian Square, Mattapan Square, Eggleston Square, and Maverick Square, serving approximately 117,000 unique users.
• PEG Access Fund (Docket #0757): Brian Donahue reported a 10-15% annual decline in cable franchise fees due to 'cord-cutting.'
• Legislative Advocacy: The city is supporting state-level legislation to capture franchise fees from streaming providers (e.g., YouTube TV) to offset revenue losses for the Boston Neighborhood Network (BNN).
• Community Labs: A state grant is being used to refresh computer labs and devices at BCYF centers across the city.

CIO Garces detailed the city's approach to AI, emphasizing support for employees rather than replacement.

• Current AI Applications:
  • Semantic Search: Improved website search satisfaction from 10% to 40%.
  • Meeting Summaries: Used to generate summaries of City Council roll calls for public accessibility.
  • Curb Atlas: A prototype for Chinatown and Charlestown that uses AI to map parking regulations by extracting data from street signs.
• Policy and Security: The AI policy was developed in collaboration with the ACLU and AFL-CIO. All computation occurs within city-controlled cloud services to ensure data confidentiality.

• Glenn Williams (Boston Neighborhood Network): Advocated for the 5% franchise fee to be applied to streaming services using city infrastructure. He highlighted BNN's partnerships with Madison Park students and 'Circles of Support' for families of the wrongly accused.
  • Direct Quote: "Cord cut, cord cut, cord cut. Now they're using the same infrastructure to do the streaming, but they're not giving in the 5%."

• Councilor Flynn: Inquired about the city's data center at 1 Summer Street and suggested a potential moratorium on new data centers pending environmental and quality-of-life impact studies.
• Councilor Culpepper: Questioned the impact of a 1% budget reduction on 311 operations; Garces clarified the reduction reflects the phase-out of the legacy CRM system.
• Councilor Breadon: Asked about digital accessibility for seniors and the security of city systems against cyber threats. Garces noted that modernizing software is the primary defense against security vulnerabilities.
• Councilor Worrell: Commended the department for using the central shared services ordinance to consolidate licenses (e.g., Zoom) and save $200,000 on BTD equipment.