Cambridge Budget Department

The Cambridge Budget Department prepares the city’s annual operating and capital budgets, which the City Manager submits to the City Council as required by state law. To build a sound budget, staff track revenue and spending trends in the current and prior fiscal years. The office also prepares documents for bond sales, calculates the tax rate, analyzes Community Preservation Act funds and helps produce the city’s annual financial statements.

The department runs Participatory Budgeting, which lets residents decide directly how to spend part of the city budget. Residents submit ideas, volunteer delegates turn them into proposals, and the community votes on a ballot of projects. Anyone living in Cambridge aged 12 or older can vote, including all sixth graders, regardless of citizenship. Since 2014, residents have directed more than 11 million dollars to over 80 projects.

What to Know

• Cambridge holds AAA ratings from Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch.
• Standard and Poor’s rates the city’s financial management practices as strong.
• Participatory Budgeting projects must be implemented with the city and fit existing policies.
• The department publishes annual property tax newsletters explaining rates and exemptions.