ALLENTOWN, Pa. – People in Lehigh County could be getting hit with a nearly 18% property tax increase next year.

That’s what Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel proposed Monday morning in his proposed $562 million budget for 2027.

“This budget is about, first and foremost, making sure that we don’t deviate or back off from defending access to critical and crucial services that our most vulnerable residents in Lehigh County rely upon,” Siegel said.

With it, comes a proposed 17.72% property tax increase.

Siegel says it’s needed to maintain services across the county’s rapidly growing landscape.

“We are one of the few places in the Commonwealth adding population,” he said. “We are on track to add another 100,000 residents by 2050, the majority of which will reside in Lehigh County.”

If approved, the increase would hit homeowners, and the costs could get passed down to renters like Trent Border, who moved to Lehigh County from Carbon County with his cat Hank.

“With everything going up, I mean, it would cut into the budget — the grocery budget, electric, moving down here the electric’s probably doubled more than it normally has, so,” Trent Border, from Emmaus.

According to the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtor Association, the median sales price for homes in Lehigh County hit a record high of $385,000 this June.

The association’s Government Affairs Director Asher Schiavone said, in part, “We do support a system where regular countywide reassessments ensure that the collection of property taxes is as fair as possible.”

Siegel told 69 News he knows the increase is not an easy ask, but says it’s been put off by previous administrations for far too long.

“Leadership is about making tough decisions, and the question people at home have to ask themselves is do they want to protect our kids and our seniors, invest in public safety and our county nursing home, and make sure we’re preserving space or do they want to cut those things because that’s the only other alternative,” Siegel said.

The budget now goes to the board of commissioners.

Its deadline is Oct. 31.