Mayor Walsh appoints new budget director

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the appointment of Katie Hammer as the City of Boston's Budget Director, serving in the Office of Budget Management. Hammer brings over seven years of experience in government finance, administration and communications to her new role.  

"Katie brings a tremendous amount of experience and a strong record of fiscal management to her new role as budget director," said Mayor Walsh. "I am excited to bring her knowledge and integrity to our office, and I look forward to working with her as we build upon the city's record of balanced budgets and invest in the resources most important to our residents."  

As Budget Director, Hammer will provide strategic leadership in shaping the annual city budget and the five year capital plan, supervise the Office of Budget Management, coordinate executive policy decisions and annual funding plans and represent the administration on budgetary matters.  

Prior to accepting the role of Budget Director, Hammer served as the Director of Workforce Management and Finance for the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), where she directed the human resources department, developed the salary and benefits budget and implemented a talent development program.  

"I am excited to work with Mayor Walsh and the budget team to build thoughtful operating and capital budgets that continue the City's record of fiscal responsibility, promote efficient operations and invest in a thriving, healthy and innovative city," said Hammer.  

Before joining MCCA, Hammer was the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Chief of Staff for the Commonwealth's Executive Office of Administration and Finance (A&F), which is responsible for managing the state's finances. In that role, she exercised oversight and coordination of core state government operations, including state facilities, information technology, human resources and procurement divisions within the Secretariat. Hammer previously served as the Assistant Budget Director for Capital Planning at A&F, where she led the development of the Commonwealth's Fiscal Year 2013-2017 Capital Investment Plan and the introduction of multi-year bonds to support significant investments in transportation, housing, information technology, and other infrastructure and assets in the Commonwealth.  

Hammer holds a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Washington University in St. Louis. During graduate school, Hammer worked as a fellow in the City of Boston's New Urban Mechanics summer fellowship program, where she assisted the Boston Redevelopment Authority in launching an urban agriculture zoning process and helped identify land suitable for urban farming. She currently lives in West Roxbury with her husband, Michael.