City Council Updates #20: Finances, Resident Survey, & Around Town

February 7, 2026

Dear Fellow Cantabrigians,

Community Development (CDD), the Historic Commission and Inspectional Services will present a report on the impacts of the new multi-family-housing zoning changes since its passage a year ago on Wednesday, March 25 at 11am. There will be an opportunity for public comment at this first of three Joint Neighborhood & Longterm Planning & Housing Committee meetings focused on how it’s working and how it could be improved.

I am constantly amazed by how little discussion occurs before significant Council votes, especially about zoning. On January 26th, the Council voted to pass the new Cambridge Street zoning, debating height (and, for most of the street, lowering the as-of-right height from 8 to 6 stories), but nothing else, e.g. regarding sidewalks, wet labs, step backs or open space. I am pushing for more discussion of these design elements and for CDD to share renderings illustrating how zoning changes will impact the street’s look and feel. This should be standard practice.

Other votes taken:

Policy order on encouraging greater transparency and consistency in agenda web postings and a more complete accounting of what capital projects cost over time.
The City will no longer post on X.
The City will consider creating a Snow Corps to help clear crosswalks, fire hydrants and storm drains, etc.
No decision yet about whether parking permit fees will be raised to $75 from $25 (for seniors and low income residents, no proof of income required). I’ve been surprised by how controversial this proposal is. Cambridge’s parking permit program costs the City $75 per permit. The goal of raising the permit cost was to cover costs. $2.08 (or $6.25 for those who can pay) a month for street parking seems like a steal to me.

A Focus on Finance

AAA Bond Rating Renewed

Fitch just assigned a ‘AAA’ rating to the City of Cambridge for a $162.8m bond sale, which has resulted in a true interest cost of $2.157%, the lowest the City has received since 2021 (for $110.6m in new obligations and $52.2m to refinance existing debt). See the City Manager’s 3.9.26 report on this here, item #2, p.102.

Moderating Growth

Commercial values are down amid weak economic trends and slower development. This may result in a double digit residential tax increase for next coming years.The City is committed to moderating its growth. The FY27 goal: to keep it under 5%.

We May Lose Federal Dollars

There are concerns that we may lose about $7m in federal dollars for Continuing of Care grants that support permanent supportive housing (for the once unhoused) and grants for affordable housing development. Overall, Cambridge only receives about $21m of federal funding.

Debt Funding Infrastructure Projects

The City hopes to lower its debt service to 5% annually. Currently 11% of the budget supports debt service for our $694m debt. Our new bond sale has expanded this to over $750m.

Since 2016, this money has paid for upgrades to our schools, libraries, fire stations, and cycling safety on our streets. Projects for the FY26-30 include improvements to:

Cycling safety and complete streets and street safety (e.g. on River St.)
Open space, paths and parks: Linear Park, Ahern Field, 359 Broadway, Gold Star Mothers Park, the Danehy-New Street Connector, Danehy Park, Hoyt Field & Mid-Cambridge parks
Fire headquarters, other municipal facilities & BEUDO improvements
158 Spring St. school renovations and school deferred maintenance

I question how we are to lower our debt service to 5% if we continue to borrow a projected $80m a year through FY2030 and $60m a year from FY2030-2035.

Spending Pressures

There is tremendous pressure for more spending—for housing, economic opportunity, transportation and sustainability programs. Given the economic climate, I believe this is not the time to be introducing new funding initiatives.

I recommended instead:

making operational cuts so we that we can grow our Federal Stabilization Fund (to help fund social programs if federal grants are withdrawn) and
paying for more infrastructure projects from the operating budget. Deferred maintenance costs more.

I’ve asked staff to report back on how much the City is currently paying nonprofits. While development is down, I believe we should make an annual financial commitment to the Community Benefits Fund for distribution to our nonprofits. They provide essential social services.

Our Schools

A recent School Equity Audit showed that despite spending about $40k per pupil (twice the median statewide), many students continue to perform below MCAs benchmarks. Only 44% of Black students achieve benchmark MCAs scores, compared with 59% of LatinX students and 80% of white and Asian peers. Our school FY27 budget is supposed to increase by only 4.7%—to $293.5m (28% of the overall City budget). School attendance is holding steady; we have about 7,000 students.

Community Residents Survey

A random phone survey of 400 residents overall was positive, confirming that housing affordability is the chief concern.

Room for improvement:

While 48% said that Cambridge was a great place to live and another 39% felt it was good, only 14% said that the overall direction of the City was excellent. 51% said it was good.
Regarding city services, our sidewalks were most wanting, with 11% excellent and 46% good, 31% fair and 12% poor.

Real transportation issues that must be addressed:

Only 6% said driving was excellent. 33% said it was good, 35% fair and 18% poor.

Improving public transportation was listed as the transportation option most important for the City according to 37%.
Parking was listed as the second most important issue—24% said so (up from 14% in 2023)

Around Town

Over the past month, I’ve been all over town, attending the annual Town/Gown presentations (featuring university plans) and meetings of the Porter Square Neighborhood Association and the East Cambridge Planning Team. I also attended programs about the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority’s Central Square Demonstration Project, a program about Healthpeak’s development at the Alewife Quad, and a presentation of the MBTA’s ridership study for commuter rail at Alewife.

Along with touring Just A Start’s new 52 New Street property, I’ve enjoyed many Black History Month and Chinese New Year events, the Community Itfar, “A Love Letter to the Lowell School,” and a monumental event in Boston where the Metro Mayors, including our City Manager Yi-an Huang, signed an executive order to protect residents and stand against illegal ICE actions.

Finally, I had the opportunity to hear from the MBTA’s General Manager and now Interim MassDOT Secretary Phil Eng speak at BU about his work to improve our transportation systems one signal, rail and bus and train car at a time. Of course, I asked him about I-90 and West Station and the restoration of the Porter Square T Station sculpture the “Gift of the Wind.” We are so lucky to have him leading!

Feeling privileged to have the opportunity to thoughtfully consider how we can, as a City, do better. I welcome your good ideas!

Cathie
City Councillor

Check out my new website: cathiezusy.org.

Captions for photos below: *At the almost opening Just A Start 52 New Street property—106 affordable rental units! *Celebrating Iftar, the close of Ramadan *Phil Eng and me! *Cambridgeport residents checking out plans for Central Square