Tax Rate to Rise by $8; Vellucci: 'Dig Up Yard'

Cambridge's tax rate will probably rise by at least $8 this year, Acting City Manager Ralph J. Dunphy told the City Council last night.

Last year's tax rate--the amount of taxes which the City takes for each $1000 of assessed property value--was $82.50, which was $5.70 higher than the year before.

Dunphy told the Council that the $1.2 million increase in this year's budget and a $300,000 decrease in the City's "cherry sheet" balance would make the tax rise necessary.

The "cherry sheet" lists the City's anticipated revenues from, an obligations to the Country, State, and agencies such as the MBTA. Dunphy said last night that a decrease in the City's share of state sales taxes was the principal cause of the decrease in the "cherry sheet" balance.

Right now, the $8 tax rise is only an estimate, Dunphy said. The City's auditors will go over the "cherry sheet" with the state before Dunphy sets the final tax rate for 1968. Also, the council still has to approve Dunphy's proposed $32.9 million budget, but it will probably do so next Monday.

Go Underground

Later last night, Harvard's old friend--Councillor Alfred E. Vellucci--proposed that the City build an underground garage and bus depot beneath the Yard to end parking problems in the Square.

After Vellucci introduced his order--scribbled on a piece of yellow paper, Councillor Edward A. Crane '35 dryly said that the Council should wait to see how Harvard's new 600 car garage works out.

The Council passed Vellucci's proposal unanimously. "They're going to move the bulldozers into Harvard Square tomorrow morning and dig out the Harvard Yard," Vellucci bubbled afterwards. More skeptical Council observers noted that the City still hasn't taken action on Vellucci's previous proposal to turn the Lampoon building into a dog pound.