Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on Monday vetoed Allentown City Council’s 2026 budget, which stripped a 4% tax increase that he said is necessary to fund city services next year.
If City Council fails to override Tuerk’s veto or find another budget compromise by Dec. 31, Tuerk’s proposed budget with a 4% tax increase will take effect next month.
City Council last week narrowly rejected a compromise plan backed by Tuerk that would have increased taxes by around 4% but lowered an increase in the city’s trash fees. Council instead voted by a 4-3 margin to strip the tax increase and keep the trash fee at $740, a $140 increase compared with 2025.
Opponents of the tax increase said residents cannot afford the increase while inflation remains high; Tuerk argued that his compromise would raise much-need city revenue while sparing the city’s poor residents from an undue financial burden by decreasing the proposed trash fee next year by $50.
In an email to Allentown City Council members, Tuerk wrote, “the amended budget does not adequately increase revenue to meet the City’s rising costs, and we cannot jeopardize our financial health by using our limited cash reserves to balance our budget.”
He added, “The City of Allentown, like political subdivisions across the country, faces budgetary challenges posed by inflation and drastically reduced funding assistance from the federal government. Depleting limited cash reserves with no method to increase revenue would only put the City at greater risk. Allentown must continue to keep our public spaces clean and our residents safe while also providing our employees with livable wages and competitive benefits — all while maintaining fiscal responsibility. We must raise revenue. A City that tries to live off cash cannot survive long.”
Allentown City Council Vice President Cynthia Mota, who cast the deciding vote against Tuerk’s proposed tax increase, said the mayor’s veto is “really sad,” and that the city should use its cash reserves to balance the budget because “people are hurting” financially.
“I keep my word, I listen to my community, my community is telling me we cannot afford more taxes,” Mota said in a phone interview.
City Council could override Tuerk’s veto by scheduling an additional meeting before the end of 2025. To override a mayoral veto, City Council must vote by a margin of 5-2, above the simple majority needed to pass the budget or standard ordinances and resolutions.
City Council President Daryl Hendricks, whose term expires next year, said Monday afternoon he had not yet reviewed Tuerk’s email. He said he will work with City Clerk Michael Hanlon to determine the “best course of action.”
Hendricks supported Tuerk’s compromise budget proposal.
“I am disappointed but not surprised,” Hendricks said. “I felt that we should have come to a compromise, and I will do everything in my power to see if we can perhaps reach one.”