Boston City CouncilLocal authority

The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of municipal government for the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Composed of 13 members—nine elected by geographic districts and four elected at-large—its mandate is to pass municipal ordinances, approve the city's annual operating and capital budgets, review urban development and zoning proposals, and provide oversight of executive city departments. Established in 1822 when Boston voters approved the city's inaugural municipal charter replacing the colonial town meeting system, the council originally operated as a bicameral legislature (comprising the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council) before being restructured into a modern unicameral body in 1909.