Shortly after Mayor Michelle Wu introduced a revised plan to raise commercial tax rates, Boston City Councilor Erin Murphy requested information from the mayor’s office on how many new positions have been created under the Wu administration.

Murphy said her request was informed, in part, by a point raised by a small business owner and member of the South End Business Alliance, Randi Lathrop, who cited a prior media report that stated 450 new positions had been added by Wu since the prior Marty Walsh administration, during a City Council hearing last week that was called to discuss alternatives to the mayor’s tax classification plan.

The mayor’s office did not confirm nor deny that number of new hires when asked by the Herald, although Murphy said she is “assuming the number will be around over 400” new positions, given “what we’re hearing.”

“When people talk and throw these facts and numbers out, I want to be able to have the actual information, the correct information to find out, is it true that this administration has really created this many new (positions),” Murphy told the Herald.

When asked if her request was made in the context of the mayor’s push to raise commercial tax rates, Murphy said, “somewhat, yes, but also just being fiscally responsible.”

“The reason why I asked for what would be the rationale for the new positions, many of them are probably for good reasons,” she said, but noted that the information would be important to have, given her concerns that the city may start laying people off, due to the commercial tax revenue shortfall issue in the budget that is driving the mayor’s plan to shift more of the tax burden from homeowners to businesses.

“If we’re going to have to be cutting people, it’s always going to be the lowest people,” Murphy said. “How many new middle and upper management positions have we created?”

Murphy’s 17F request for information was approved Wednesday by the City Council, meaning that the mayor has a week within receipt of the request to provide information to the Council on “all new positions that have been created since Dec. 1, 2021.” The mayor took office in November 2021.

The at-large councilor requested the job description, salary, city department the job falls under, funding source for each position, a brief explanation of the rationale behind creating each position, the specific date each position was established, current status of each position (filled, vacant, pending hiring), qualifications or requirements for each position, and any available metrics or expected outcomes related to the creation of those positions, according the Council filing.

Of the number being around 400 or so, Murphy said, “It was something that I knew, and have talked about it in the past, especially when I had filed … the resolution that I withdrew talking about a hiring freeze a few months ago, to look at the new positions that have come into the city. Of course, the conversation is coming up again, where some of the watchdogs and others have highlighted it.”

Murphy’s request comes in the wake of a letter Mayor Wu sent to the City Council last week, outlining cuts to key public safety and other city services Wu may look to make should her tax plan not be passed into law. Murphy voted against a prior version of the tax plan that stalled in the Senate after it was passed by the House.

The mayor’s letter outlined a potential cancellation of Boston Police, Fire and EMS Academy classes and a pause on planned hiring at three of the city’s largest core departments.

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The hypothetical cuts in the letter led to criticism from some parts of the community that there were other places the mayor could look to trim fat in a more than $4.6 billion budget that grew by nearly 8% this fiscal year.

In response to criticism that the mayor should have looked to cut the city budget instead of raising commercial tax rates, Wu has said that to make up for the projected commercial revenue shortfall brought on by declining commercial property values and vacant office buildings, her administration would have to cut $265 million from the budget, and lay off about 2,200 employees.

The Herald requested the same information from the mayor’s office that was included in Murphy’s filing, but has yet to receive the data.

The mayor did issue a statement defending the hires made by her administration, as being essential to “providing excellent services to residents and businesses.”

“Our city employees are dedicated to providing excellent services for residents and businesses across our neighborhoods,” Wu said. “I am so grateful to every member of our workforce whose dedicated focus helps make Boston a home for everyone. We are striving to continue to make Boston an employer of choice for our residents, and we are proud that our high standards for city services come from our talented workforce who are rooted in Boston’s neighborhoods.”