The dollar figures come from the Office's budget presentation to the Board on January 9, 2025 (FY24 actuals, FY25 current, FY26 proposed) and the FY27 recommended budget presented May 7, 2026; the evaluation reports carry no costs, and the FY26 figures in the table are the proposed budget, not actuals. The operating appropriation was $2,132,323 in FY25, $2,134,250 in FY26 and $1,891,561 recommended for FY27, of which staff and process costs were $822,569 in FY25 and $767,218 proposed for FY26, the balance going to projects: roughly 36% to 39% of the appropriation ran the process in FY25 and FY26, with the rest reaching projects through the Special Revenue Fund, and in FY27 62% of the operating budget is the project line. Permanent staff cost $232,884 (FY24 actual), $372,323 (FY25), $372,972 (FY26 proposed) and $338,967 (FY27), for a team of three, with the Chief of Staff role downgraded to Outreach Coordinator in FY27. Marketing and communications through ASG cost $242,423 (FY24), $159,000 (FY25) and $109,000 (FY26). Community engagement cost $10,665 (FY24), $101,000 (FY25: $80,000 partner grants, $20,000 meeting design) and $179,000 (FY26: $60,000 partner grants, $100,000 contract support, $18,000 fellow); Community Partners were paid per event hosted in the pilot. Evaluation by Data+Soul cost $104,500 (FY24), $100,000 (FY25) and $65,000 (FY26). Online platforms cost $9,950 (FY24), $70,000 (FY25: $60,000 voting portal, $10,000 idea portal) and $21,000 (FY26). The hidden costs are documented qualitatively. OPB staff time goes to high-touch partner support, training, materials, translation, event logistics and now project implementation; five planned pilot forums became three for lack of capacity, staff said in retrospectives that building each component from scratch took longer than expected, the FY26 two-fold strategy 'pushed the office's capacity and resources' and was met with a Merrimack College fellowship, and the Chief of Staff left for the MBTA in January 2026 and the Finance Manager in September 2026. City department staff (about 25 at forums each cycle) do feasibility and cost checks, run grant rounds and implement winners, volunteered on behalf of departments and not in OPB's budget. Board members met weekly from January to April 2024, then bi-weekly, then monthly, reimbursed only for transport, and some left over unclear time commitments. Community Partners give staff capacity beyond their contracts, and the Better Budget Alliance runs its own workshops and voting drives. In FY26 the Council moved $200,000 from OPB's contract services line to projects, cutting funds for partners in proposal development and voting and for early Cycle 3 evaluation and marketing, which shows the tension between paying for engagement and paying for projects. Political capital goes into annual Council hearings and Board requests to the Finance Cabinet, and a Board member in January 2025 said the enthusiasm for such a small pool of money made her rethink the return on investment.