Terrence F. Smith, director of government affairs at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, urged the City Council to adopt the city manager’s tax rate recommendations in the public hearing.

“On the behalf of my members, I thank the City Council and the administration for providing an excellent service while keeping taxes reasonable for residents and businesses,” Smith said.

Not all citizens were unabashedly positive about the city manager’s tax rate recommendation. Despite being satisfied with “the rosy financial situation,” Cambridge citizen Gerald Bergman said, “I’m going to say maybe the be-all-end-all for our moral and civic responsibilities is not the lowest possible tax rate, but how we meet the human needs of our residents.”

Bergman continued his critique by highlighting that MIT and Cambridge’s top ten real estate developers would be big beneficiaries of the $11 million in free cash if the City Council approved to lower the tax rate even further—not early childhood education and affordable housing.

The City Council also approved policy orders concerning the quality and long-term care of inclusionary zoning units and continued debate on the issue of elementary school classrooms.

—Staff writer Anja C. Nilsson can be reached at anja.nilsson@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @anja_nilsson.