Allentown City Council on Wednesday failed to override Mayor Matt Tuerk’s veto of聽its 2024 budget and rejected his compromise proposal for a 2% tax increase, leaving the city’s finances next year up in the air.
The city has until the end of the year to pass a budget.
City Council earlier this month passed a budget with no tax increase, rejecting a proposal from Tuerk that would have raised taxes by 4.57%. That budget was an amendment to his original proposal, which would have raised taxes by 6.9%.
Tuerk vetoed the City Council budget last week, saying that a budget without any tax increase would “force a reduction in city services that are crucial to the quality of life of Allentown鈥檚 people.鈥� According to Tuerk, the city needs a tax increase to fulfill contractual raises for its employees and pay for increasingly expensive materials like employee uniforms and road salts.
Council needed five votes to override his veto and keep its聽budget in place, but came up one vote short. Cynthia Mota, Ed Zucal, Natalie Santos and Ce-Ce Gerlach voted in favor of overriding the veto, while Candida Affa, Santo Napoli and Daryl Hendricks voted against it.
City Council also failed to adopt a compromise proposal from Tuerk that would have raised taxes by 2% by cutting an additional $1.5 million from his original $144.8 million general fund budget proposal. Tuerk’s counter-proposal agreed to most of the job and overtime cuts that council made, but would restore the 5% cut from dozens of city accounts in council’s budget.
Council members and residents who advocated for no tax increase argued that poor people in the city, struggling against inflation and a lack of affordable housing, could not afford even a modest tax increase. Allentown residents already are likely to see an average $100 increase to their water bills and $40 increase in trash fees.
“We need to understand that this is just not the time,” said Enid Santiago, an Allentown resident and local activist. “Another dollar could break a family. Incomes are not going up.”
But Tuerk and some council members argued that a modest tax increase is necessary to keep the city afloat and essential services running. In order to make the cuts necessary for no tax increase, City Council cut nearly all new jobs and job upgrades Tuerk asked for and reduced dozens of city accounts by 5%. Those funds pay for items such as road salts, pool equipment and Fourth of July fireworks.
Tuerk warned that if the city proceeds with its no tax increase budget, department heads are likely to come to City Council and frequently request cash transfers to pay for necessary expenses.
“Let’s say you pass a 0% budget, we make our cuts, and we have a devastating snowstorm in January. The first thing we’re going to do is come to you with a transfer request, saying, ‘Hey, this screwed up the whole budget, and we’re going to have to allocate differently for the rest of the year,’ ” Tuerk said at Wednesday’s council meeting. “The 2% [tax increase proposal] allows us, again, to provide the level of service we believe our residents deserve.”
Some members of the public also urged council to adopt a modest tax increase, and said they feared that delaying a raise would lead to a much steeper hike in property taxes in the future.
“While I don’t want my taxes and my staff’s taxes increased … I’ll take it in the chin,” said Victor Martinez, an Allentown resident and owner of La Mega radio station. “I’ll take 2% this time, and then give me another 1 or 2% next year, instead of waiting five years and then having to pay it all at once.”
The last time the city had an increase in their property taxes was in 2019, when former Mayor Ray O’Connell vetoed City Council’s proposed budget, which did not include a tax hike, and enacted a 27% increase. Before that, the city had not seen a tax increase since 2005.
The city launched a searchable to show the impact of a 2% tax increase in different Allentown neighborhoods. According to the city, the 2% hike for most residents would look like a increase somewhere between $6 and $29, depending on their assessed home value.
The city’s next budget meeting will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 12 according to city spokesperson Genesis Ortega.
Gerlach, who said she remains committed to passing a budget with no tax increase, said she hoped city leaders could propose ways to cut costs to both avoid a tax increase and keep the city financially afloat.
“I definitely am glad we didn’t raise taxes today,” Gerlach said. “It’s an opportunity for the city to present a budget with 0% tax increase, and show what that will look like, instead of generalizations and what some would call fear mongering.”
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.
