Boston Housing Office Proposes $49.2 Million Budget With $5 Million in Cuts

BOSTON — April 27, 2026 — Boston's housing office presented a $49.2 million FY27 operating budget, a 9.6 percent cut from the current year, amid warnings of a federal funding battle that could upend $48 million in homelessness grants. Chief of Housing Sheila Dillon and Director of Administration and Finance Rick Wilson told the City Council's Ways and Means Committee on April 27 that the five largest reductions include a $2.3 million cut to the City of Boston Voucher Program, a $1 million elimination of the Affordable Commercial Assistance Fund, and a roughly $450,000 elimination of the Access to Counsel pilot that serves families with school-age children facing eviction — a cut Committee Chair Ben Weber called out directly, noting the program currently assists about three families per week. Wilson said HUD's Continuum of Care grants, totaling $48 million and funding the lion's share of Boston's homelessness programs, are protected for FY27 by court injunctions and a congressional appropriations bill, but that HUD has signaled it intends to resume harmful restructuring changes the following year. The office has spent more than $190 million, or 80 percent, of its $237 million ARPA allocation, on track to obligate the remainder before the federal deadline at the end of calendar year 2026.