I don't understand the complete calculus but Boston is facing a $500mil shortfall and the mayor is increasing taxes to makeup the shortfall:

https://news.bloombergtax.com/daily-tax-report/boston-reside...

I think part of the equation is that less people are going into the office so values of buildings are going down, less people in downtown the less money that goes to all the restaurants/shops/stores during the week.

I can't speak for other cities since I don't live in them but Boston has never really recovered from the pandemic in terms of office workers.

- public transport - spending money in local stores - spending money on housing - spending money on local child care - etc etc etc

Why would the city care if no one is working downtown?

The value of office buildings don't come from nowhere — they come from being used as office buildings.