Allentown tax incentive district helps developers not residents

Allentown homeowners face their first property tax hike in seven years — 3.96% — plus higher trash fees — even as downtown development booms under the Neighborhood Improvement Zone. The NIZ diverts state and local taxes generated downtown into private development projects, primarily benefiting City Center Group and other developers. By law, these diverted funds cannot go to the city’s general fund; instead, they repay development debt and cover project costs. Critics have long argued this legal structure favors developers, shields financial flows from public oversight and leaves essential services funded disproportionately by residents outside the NIZ. Meanwhile, housing costs continue to rise and homelessness remains persistent.

Despite visible investment downtown, long-term residents and working families see little improvement in housing security or affordability, highlighting a disconnect between flashy development and the needs of the broader community. Allentown needs transparency, audits and accountability. The city must publish NIZ tax flows, evaluate whether incentives truly serve the public good, and ensure that future development benefits residents, not just developers. Without meaningful reform, tax hikes are no longer temporary inconveniences — downtown glitters while the burden falls on those who can least afford it, and inequality is wedged into the city’s financial structure.

Jules Galarza

Allentown

Trump administration losing in court of public opinion

Overreach and policy failure are among Trump’s daily eye-opening actions. We saw how public anger over Elon Musk’s chainsaw approach at the Department of Government Efficiency to cutting waste and fraud led to his departure. It took some time, but it became clear that his tactics were both unnecessarily brutal and ineffective.

We are headed down the same path with the administration’s use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Even before Nicole Good was killed, there were increasing protests and confrontations between the public and ICE. This is accompanied by legal cases filling the dockets in courts at all levels. The administration is not winning in the courts or the court of public opinion. As with DOGE, both the brutality and the lack of effectiveness have given rise to an anti-ICE movement across the nation. But Trump’s daily escapades are keeping our eyes off the ball, the Epstein list.

Tom Sedor

Northampton

Fight human trafficking in the Lehigh Valley

Human trafficking is not a distant problem. It is happening right here in the Lehigh Valley. Our region is considered a trafficking hotspot due to its proximity to major highways, making it easy for traffickers to move victims quickly and anonymously. In 2024, Pennsylvania ranked 11th in the nation for the number of signals made to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. Sex trafficking generates more than $176 billion a year worldwide and is a form of modern-day slavery. Even more devastating is how young many victims are. The average age of entry into exploitation is just 11 to 15 years old. Most victims are recruited by someone they know — often a family member or trusted individual. At Bloom for Women, we walk alongside survivors every day. We see their resilience, their courage and their determination to rebuild their lives. January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month and it is a call to action. We must educate our community, raise awareness, help victims escape exploitation, support survivors in their journey to freedom, and hold traffickers and buyers accountable. This is a fight we must take on together. The Lehigh Valley must stand up and say: Not on our watch.

Carol Andersen

Bethlehem

What is the real threat to national security?

One might argue that we all need national security. The tricky part is defining what security is and how we achieve it. The president thinks that wind turbines off the coast of Rhode Island threaten our national security. I think they increase our security by creating energy that is not fueled by fossil fuels. If we developed more solar and wind energy, we would have no need to take oil from Venezuela. Congress thinks national security can be bought by ever-increasing expenditures on our military. I think national security depends more on obeying international laws, cooperating with our allies and seeking peaceful solutions to conflicts. I believe threatening countries and saying we will take Greenland is a threat to all of us. Unaffordable health care and ignoring science are also serious threats to our security. It appears that the people who came here seeking freedom and a better life for their children are less threatening than the masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents causing havoc in our cities. It is ironic that our federal government is breaking many of the international laws that have kept us safe. What if our federal government is the greatest threat to our national security?

Debra Orben

Springfield Township

Taking Greenland would violate Trump’s oath of office

According to an article that appeared recently in The Morning Call, the “US-Danish talks on Greenland” were “chilly.” The article makes clear that neither Greenland nor Denmark are interested in Greenland being absorbed by the U.S. In the United States, treaties have the force of law. By treaty, the U.S. is a part of the NATO alliance, which includes Denmark, and the U.S. is obligated not only to respect the sovereignty of Denmark, but to defend it. President Trump with his talk of acquiring Greenland by whatever means necessary is saying he is willing to violate his oath of office. The other branches of our government should be informing him of his responsibility under the Constitution, and should be united in informing him that his term in office would be cut short were he to violate that oath and the Constitution by carrying out his threats. Unfortunately, in their silence on this issue, our elected representatives appear to be disregarding the Constitution as well. Or perhaps they are as ignorant or as contemptuous of it as is the president.

Ron Spross

Moore Township

The Morning Call publishes letters from readers online and in print several times a week. Submit a letter to the editor at letters@mcall.com. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication.