A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the City of Cambridge retaining its Triple A (AAA) rating from the nation's three major credit rating agencies.

New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 1 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Cambridge, Massachusetts The 'AAA' rating on the city’s IDR and GO bonds reflects Fitch's expectation for the city to maintain healthy financial flexibility through future economic cycles, consistent with its history of strong operating performance and robust reserves. The 'AAA' IDR incorporates the city’s 'aaa' financial resilience assessment, which reflects a 'high-midrange' level of budgetary flexibility and an expectation that unrestricted general fund reserves (the sum of committed, assigned and unassigned) will be maintained at or above 10% of spending. The city’s unrestricted reserves have been maintained well above this level for several years and were at 38% of spending in fiscal 2025. The rating also captures the city’s 'midrange' long-term liability metrics associated with direct governmental debt (net of self-supporting debt) and Fitch-adjusted net pension liabilities (NPLs). Liability metrics are expected to remain 'midrange' over the near term given the city’s plans for additional governmental debt and amortization of existing debt. Demographic and economic level metrics on a composite basis are considered 'strongest', including unemployment rates below the national average, high rates of educational attainment and very high median household income (MHI) levels when compared to Fitch portfolio averages. Additionally, the rating reflects the application of a positive one-notch Additional Analytical Factor, which recognizes the city’s revenue-raising capacity due to its exceptionally large market value per capita of over $600,000 and high revenue control. Rating Sensitivities Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade • A substantial increase in long-term liabilities associated with debt or increased NPLs that begins to negatively impact future budget decisions and operating results, assuming current levels of resident income, governmental expenditures and revenues; • A decline in unrestricted general fund balances sustained at or below 10% of spending, leading to a lower assessment of financial resilience; • A material sustained weakening of demographic and economic metrics. Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade • Not applicable given the 'AAA' rating and Stable Outlook. Security The bonds are a general obligation of the city and are backed by its full faith and credit and a property tax levy that is limited by state statute. Ratings Long-Term IDR AAA Outlooks Long-Term IDR Stable New Issues $162,810,000 General Obligation Municipal Purpose Loan of 2026 AAA Sale Date March 4 Outstanding Debt Issuer Ratings Information Applicable Criteria U.S. Public Finance Local Government Rating Criteria (April 2024) Related Research Fitch Rates Cambridge, MA's $162.8MM Series 2026 GO Bonds 'AAA'; Outlook Stable (February 2026) Analysts Arthur Tildesley III, CFA [phone removed] [email removed] Tammy Ou [phone removed] [email removed]

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 2 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Fitch’s Local Government Rating Model The Local Government Rating Model generates Model Implied Ratings, which communicate the issuer's credit quality relative to Fitch's local government rating portfolio. (The Model Implied Rating will be the Issuer Default Rating except in certain circumstances explained in the applicable criteria.) The Model Implied Rating is expressed via a numerical value calibrated to Fitch's long-term rating scale, which ranges from 10.0 or higher (AAA), 9.0 (AA+), 8.0 (AA) and so forth down to 1.0 (BBB– and below). Model Implied Ratings reflect the combination of issuer-specific metrics and assessments to generate a Metric Profile and a structured framework to account for Additional Analytical Factors not captured in the Metric Profile that can either mitigate or exacerbate credit risks. Additional Analytical Factors are reflected in notching from the Metric Profile and are capped at +/-3 notches. Rating Headroom & Positioning Cambridge Model Implied Rating: 'AAA' (Numerical Value: 11.55) • Metric Profile: 'AAA' (Numerical Value: 10.55) • Net Additional Analytical Factor Notching: +1.0 Individual Additional Analytical Notching Factors: • Revenue Capacity: +1.0 Cambridge's Model Implied Rating is 'AAA'. The associated numerical value of 11.55 is at the upper end of the range for a 'AAA' rating. Current Developments Cambridge's financial profile remains very strong. The city’s unrestricted general fund balance (sum of committed, assigned and unassigned) in fiscal 2025 totaled $366.8 million or approximately 38% of spending. The fiscal 2026 $992.2 million general fund budget is up $36.6 million, or 3.8%, over the fiscal 2025 adopted operating budget. The tax levy was raised 8.03%, reaching $678.9 million. The city’s annual levy increase has typically been between 5%-9% over the past fiscal years as taxable assessed values have experienced growth. Budget increases are attributable to employee salary and benefit costs, higher debt service costs and an increase in school department funding. Following an extended period of yoy growth in tax base values, the city’s fiscal 2026 total assessed value (TAV) declined 4.1% yoy or approximately $3.1 billion. The decline was driven by changes in commercial and industrial assessed values, which decreased by $4.2 billion or 12.5% yoy. Commercial and industrial properties represent 40% of the city's fiscal 2026 TAV. Residential values increased by 2.6% or $1 billion yoy to $41.2 billion. YOY lab vacancy increased to 22% in 3Q25 from 12% in 3Q24. Similarly, the office vacancy rate rose to 22.5% in 3Q25 from 20% in 3Q24. New development and construction activity for office, lab, residential and mixed-use has begun to slow due to relatively high rates in office vacancies, reduced demand for lab space and peak valuations of residential properties, resulting in a slowdown of sales activity. Fitch expects long-term demand to be sound due to Cambridge's central location near the city of Boston, its importance as a research center for life and sciences companies and the presence of two of the country's leading higher education institutions, Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The city is projecting TAV to decline in FY 2027 and remain below current levels until rebounding in 2030, driven by slower demand in commercial real estate. For FY27, the city is projecting that commercial/industrial values will decline by 15.5%, whereas residential values will increase by 2%. Declines in commercial/industrial values are projected to continue to occur, although at a lesser degree, through 2029, and are expected to stabilize in 2030. Fitch considers these projections to be reasonable based on higher-than-usual vacancy rates and new commercial and residential construction underway and proposed. The city’s five-year financial projections reflect a use of a portion of the city’s large excess levy capacity, currently equal to $172.9 million, as management may utilize this revenue source if TAV levels continue to decline.

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 3 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Profile The city is an important economic component of the Boston metropolitan area and Massachusetts as a whole and benefits from the presence of both Harvard and MIT. These institutions are the city's top two employers, while other major employers include the city itself and a number of biotechnology companies including Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, Novartis and Sanofi. Cambridge’s position as a national leader in the life sciences and high-tech sectors and expansion of these sectors have contributed to notable tax base, employment and resident income growth over the past several years. Wealth levels are above state and national averages, and unemployment is consistently below them. Several major software and internet companies have established research and development operations in Cambridge, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta.

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 4 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Key Drivers Financial Profile Financial Resilience - 'aaa' Cambridge's financial resilience is driven by the combination of its 'High' revenue control assessment and 'Midrange' expenditure control assessment, culminating in a 'High Midrange' budgetary flexibility assessment. • Revenue control assessment: High • Expenditure control assessment: Midrange • Budgetary flexibility assessment: High Midrange • Minimum fund balance for current financial resilience assessment: >=10.0% • Current year fund balance to expenditure ratio: 38.1% (2025) • Lowest fund balance to expenditure ratio for the fiscal-year period 2020-2025: 38.1% (2025) Revenue Volatility - 'Strongest' Cambridge's weakest historic three-year revenue performance is neutral to the Model Implied Rating.

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 5 Public Finance Tax Supported United States The revenue volatility metric is an estimate of potential revenue volatility based on the issuer's historical experience relative to the median for the Fitch-rated local government portfolio. The metric helps to differentiate issuers by the scale of revenue loss that would have to be addressed through revenue raising, cost controls or utilization of reserves through economic cycles. • Lowest three-year revenue performance (based on revenues dating back to 2005): 3.9% increase for the three-year period ending fiscal 2010 • Median issuer decline: -4.3% (2024) Additional Analytical Factors and Notching Financial Profile Additional Analytical Factors and Notching: +1.0 notch (for Revenue Capacity) The Model Implied Rating includes a +1 notch Additional Analytical Factor due to the city's exceptionally high taxable assessed value per capita of $603,000, which would suggest a greater capacity to tap into revenue-generating resources to support governmental costs and fiscal resilience than that communicated by the metric profile. State-Specific Revenue/Expenditure Context & Budgetary Control Pursuant to state law, Proposition 2 1/2 limits the city's ability to levy property taxes by: 1) a “levy ceiling,” an absolute cap on the level of property taxation, set at 2.5% of the overall property tax valuation (primary limit); and 2) a levy limit that restricts the annual growth in taxation to 2.5% over the previous year's levy plus the value of new growth (secondary limit). Taxation in excess of the levy limit (plus any new growth) requires voter approval. Management has typically levied below the ceiling each year. Any excess in levy capacity is carried forward and available for use at any time. The city's excess tax levy limit is approximately $172.9 million, down slightly from fiscal 2025. This excess levy capacity totals approximately 17% of the fiscal 2026 budgeted general fund revenues and provides for high revenue-raising flexibility if needed. Demographic and Economic Strength Population Trend - 'Midrange' Based on the median of 10-year annual percentage change in population, Cambridge's population trend is assessed as 'Midrange'. Population trend: 0.8% 2024 (45th percentile) (vs. 0.8% 2023 median of 10-year annual percentage change in population) Unemployment, Educational Attainment and MHI Level - 'Strongest' The overall strength of Cambridge's demographic and economic level indicators (unemployment rate, educational attainment, median household income [MHI]) in 2024 are assessed as 'Strongest' on a composite basis, performing at the 88th percentile of Fitch's local government rating portfolio. This is due to relatively strong education attainment levels, median-issuer indexed adjusted MHI and unemployment rate. • Unemployment rate as a percentage of national rate: 77.5% 2024 (80th percentile), relative to the national rate of 4.0% • Percent of population with a bachelor's degree or higher: 80.8% 2024 (100th percentile) (vs. 80.2% 2023 Actual) • MHI as a percent of the portfolio median: 142.5% (2023) (84th percentile) Economic Concentration and Population Size - 'Strongest' Cambridge's population in 2024 was of sufficient size and the economy was sufficiently diversified to qualify for Fitch's highest overall size/diversification category. The composite metric acts asymmetrically, with most issuers (above the 15th percentile for each metric) sufficiently diversified to minimize risks associated with small population and economic concentration. Downward effects of the metric on the Metric Profile are most pronounced for the least economically diverse issuers (in the fifth percentile for the metric or lower). The economic concentration percentage shown below is defined as the sum of the absolute deviation of the percentage of personal income by major economic sectors relative to the U.S. distribution. • Population size: 121,186 2024 (above the 15th percentile) (vs. 119,315 2023 Actual) • Economic concentration: 46.7% (2024) (above the 15th percentile)

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 6 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Long-Term Liability Burden Cambridge's liabilities to governmental revenue remain strong while carrying costs to governmental expenditures and liabilities to personal income remain midrange. The long-term liability composite metric in 2024 is at the 57th percentile, roughly in line with Fitch's local government rating portfolio. • Liabilities to personal income: 6.1% Analyst Input (43rd percentile) (vs. 5.8% 2024 Actual) • Liabilities to governmental revenue: 88.0% Analyst Input (89th percentile) (vs. 81.9% 2024 Actual) • Carrying costs to governmental expenditures: 14.8% Analyst Input (50th percentile) (vs. 14.7% 2024 Actual) Pension Adjustments On an aggregate basis for all pension plans as of the most recent measurement date, the reported asset to liability ratio was 87.6%, or an estimated 77.7%, using Fitch's standard 6% rate of return adjustment. The Fitch-adjusted NPL was equal to $382.3 million, or about 2.5% of personal income. Additional Insight The OPEB contribution requirements of OPEB plan members and the city are established and may be amended by the city. Ten percent of the calculated contribution is currently paid by retirees through pension benefit deductions. The state allows up to 50% to be paid by retirees. The remainder of such cost is funded by the city. The city currently contributes enough money to the OPEB plan to satisfy current obligations on a pay-as-you-go basis, but has historically overfunded to support fund assets. The city’s net OPEB liability of $728 million was 6% funded as of fiscal 2025 and represents 5% of personal income. Analyst Inputs to the Model Analyst inputs to the model reflect metric adjustments to account for historical data anomalies, forward-looking performance shifts or non-recurring events that may otherwise skew the time series. Fitch adjusted the city’s debt liabilities to reflect amortization of principal on outstanding debt since the end of fiscal 2025 and the current 2026 issuance. ESG Considerations The highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3', unless otherwise disclosed in this section. A score of '3' means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores are not inputs in the rating process; they are an observation on the relevance and materiality of ESG factors in the rating decision. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/topics/esg/products#esg-relevance-scores.

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 7 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Financial Summary ($000, Audited Fiscal Years Ending Jun. 30) 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 General Fund Revenues Property Tax 477,369 497,042 530,537 579,388 631,730 Sales Tax 12,017 20,401 30,112 32,976 33,307 Income Tax - - - - - Other Tax 8,219 8,535 8,455 8,683 8,900 Total Taxes - Undifferentiated - - - - - Intergovernmental 88,639 71,847 76,348 82,213 79,246 Other Revenue 152,589 143,334 174,699 211,853 164,718 Total 738,834 741,159 820,151 915,114 917,901 General Fund Expenditures General Government 49,577 49,050 53,528 58,884 60,279 Public Safety 147,363 158,856 170,269 178,812 191,461 Educational 258,815 242,833 252,436 272,012 295,137 Debt Service 78,833 82,107 86,986 89,251 101,471 Capital Outlay - - - - - Other Expenditures 192,006 201,407 214,812 232,934 257,304 Total 726,594 734,253 778,030 831,894 905,653 Transfers In and Other Sources 45,952 20,661 21,297 22,580 23,181 Transfers Out and Other Sources 77,878 50,676 59,032 44,000 56,117 Net Transfers & Other -31,926 -30,015 -37,735 -21,420 -32,935 Adjustment for Bond Proceeds and Extraordinary One-Time Uses 21,456 - - - - Net Op. Surplus (Deficit) After Transfers -19,686 -23,109 4,386 61,800 -20,687 Net Op. Surplus (Deficit)/ (Total Expenditures + Transfers Out and Other Uses)(%) -2.51 -2.94 0.52 7.06 -2.15 Total Fund Balance 344,379 321,270 325,656 387,456 366,769 Unrestricted Fund Balance 341,633 317,212 319,567 384,565 366,769 Other Available Fund Balances - - - - - Total Available Unrestricted Reserves (GF + Other) 341,633 317,212 319,567 384,565 366,769 Available Reserves as % of Spending (Adj for Bond Proceeds and Other One-Time Uses) 43.63 40.41 38.18 43.91 38.13 Sources: Fitch Ratings, Fitch Solutions, Cambridge (MA) [General Government]

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 8 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Long-Term Liability Burden ($000) ($000, Audited Fiscal Years Ending Jun. 30) 2025 Direct Debt 694,821 Less: Self-Supporting Debt 109,582 Net Direct Debt 585,238 Fitch Adjusted NPL 329,790 Net Direct Debt + Fitch-Adjusted net pension liabilities (NPL) 915,028 Population 121,186 Per Capita Personal Income - Estimated Personal Income ($000) 15,363,146 Net Debt + Fitch-Adjusted NPL /Personal Income (%) 6 Total Governmental Revenues 1,070,906 Net Direct Debt + Fitch Adjusted NPL as Percentage of Governmental Revenue (%) 85.44 Debt Service (Net of State Support) 101,471 Actuarially Determined Pension Contributions 47,317 Actual OPEB Contributions 30,931 Total Governmental Expenditures 1,216,936 Carrying Costs/Governmental Expenditures (%) 14.77 Note: Figures above do not reflect any Analyst Input Adjustments. Sources: Fitch Ratings, Fitch Solutions, Cambridge (MA) [General Government]

Cambridge, Massachusetts New Issue │ February 20, 2026 fitchratings.com 9 Public Finance Tax Supported United States Summary Description Final Value Budgetary Flexibility Assessments Revenue Control Assessment High Expenditure Control Assessment Midrange Collective Bargaining and Resolution Framework Midrange Workforce Outcomes Midrange Cost Drivers Midrange Metrics Assessments Financial Profile - Financial Resilience aaa Financial Profile - Revenue Volatility Strongest Demographic & Economic Strength - Trend Midrange Demographic & Economic Strength - Level Strongest Demographic & Economic Strength - Concentration & Size Strongest Long-Term Liability Burden Midrange Metric Profile Mapping AAA Metric Profile 10.55 Additional Analytical Factors Total Notching - capped 1 Financial Profile 1 Fiscal Oversight Revenue Capacity 1 Contingent Risks Non-Recurring Support or Spending Deferrals Political Risks Management Practices Demographic & Economic Strength Economic and Institutional Strength Revenue Concentration Risks School District Resources Long-Term Liability Burden Pension Funding Assumptions Pension Contributions OPEB Debt Structure Capital Demands and Affordability Model Implied Rating - Mapping AAA Model Implied Rating - Metric 11.55 Outliers and Developing Situations Considerations No Notching Rationale - 1 Notching Rationale - 2 Issuer Default Rating/ Issuer Default Credit Opinion AAA Outlook/Watch RO:Sta Source: Fitch Ratings

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