At its November 24 meeting, the Cambridge City Commissioners voted to adopt a measure formally requesting that the Dorchester County Council establish a property tax set-off for Cambridge residents.
A tax set-off would reduce the county portion of property tax bills for city residents to account for services the city already provides independently, which in other parts of the county are paid for through county taxes. Examples include public safety, road maintenance, and similar municipal functions that Cambridge funds directly.
Sponsored by Ward 2 Commissioner Shay Lewis-Sisco, Resolution 2514 noted that a preliminary analysis by the city identified overlapping or duplicated services and estimated an appropriate credit.
The resolution initially referenced a potential range of 9.5 to 16 percent as an “initial rate” for discussion, but Ward 1 Commissioner Brett Summers suggested that including specific figures could box the city in prematurely, especially since staff were still refining the data.
He argued that the county and the town should enter negotiations without numerical limits that might understate the eventual need, after which Lewis-Sisco offered an amendment to remove the language.
City Attorney Patrick Thomas clarified that even the language in the draft was not a firm recommendation but rather a reflection of early internal research, and it was already qualified as subject to adjustment based on joint review with the county.
Still, he said the Commissioners could remove the sentence without weakening the resolution’s purpose. He advised keeping the recital language, explaining that staff had conducted a preliminary analysis, since that provides context for why the city is making the request.
Mayor Lajan Cephas-Bey clarified that including the range originally was intended as a gesture of good-faith partnership with the county, signaling that Cambridge was approaching the process collaboratively rather than adversarial. The resolution, she said, was meant to portray the county as a “partner” as opposed to a “villain,” and open the door to a cooperative discussion about tax equity.
After an amendment motion and discussion, the commissioners voted to strike the sentence in Paragraph One that mentioned the 9.5 to 16 percent range. The remainder of the resolution, including the contextual recital section, remained intact. Resolution 2514 then passed unanimously as amended.
Wonderful!!