By Spencer Buell Globe Staff,Updated October 21, 2025, 3:23 p.m.
CAMBRIDGE — Sunny skies and crisp fall air brought huge crowds here for the Head of the Charles Regatta, which can make for one of the city’s busiest weekends. At local coffee shops, lines stretched up the sidewalk. Restaurants were packed. Hotels, booked. Business, good.
But storm clouds were approaching. The City Council on Monday voted to raise the city’s commercial property tax rate by a startling 22 percent, a move that will hit many smaller businesses hard and put new pressure on a wealthy city accustomed to boom times to rethink either its generous spending, or who it asks to pay for it.
“I think we’re going to have to have challenging conversations going forward,” said Marc McGovern, a city councilor, at the meeting. “There may be a little pain we haven’t felt here in 40 years.”
