Boston City Council Presses BPHC on EMS Pay Gap, FY27 Budget in Morning Hearing

BOSTON -- May 21, 2026, Boston City Council Ways and Means Committee scrutinizes BPHC's $40 million-offset EMS budget as union calls pay gap alarming. The committee held a morning budget hearing May 21 on the Boston Public Health Commission's fiscal year 2027 operating budget, covering docket numbers 0733 through 0740 sponsored by Mayor Michelle Wu. Budget Director Christopher Valdez said the FY27 appropriation rises 1.6 percent year over year after a reengineered fringe-benefit accounting method that avoided more than $4 million in potential service cuts driven by a 5 percent pension increase and a more than 20 percent healthcare premium spike. Boston EMS Chief Jim Hooley reported that Priority 1 median response times fell from 7.5 to 6.8 minutes citywide between early 2025 and mid-2026, and that the department logged more than 141,000 clinical incidents in calendar year 2025, generating roughly $40 million in transport billing revenue. Jason Yekens, president of the BPPA EMS Division, told councilors that a five-year Boston EMT earns nearly 60 percent less than a firefighter responding to identical emergencies, warning that "dedicated, experienced, compassionate professionals leave Boston EMS every year because they simply can't afford to stay." Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu reported a 39 percent drop in overdose mortality from 2023 to 2024 and noted a first-tranche $5 million investment from the Atrius Health Equity Foundation targeting life expectancy gaps in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.