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

That’s what County Executive Josh Siegel proposed this morning in his proposed 2027 budget.

Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel unveiled his $562 million budget proposal.

“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,” says Josh Siegel, Lehigh County Executive.

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. We are on track to add another 100,000 residents by 2050. The majority of which will reside in Lehigh County,” says Siegel.

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 with his cat Hank.

“With everything going up I mean it would cut into the budget the grocery budget, electric, moving down here the electrics 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, saying in part, “We do support a system where regular countywide reassessments ensure that the collection of property taxes is as fair as possible.”

Siegel tells us he knows 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 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 cause that’s the only other alternative,” says Siegel.

The budget now goes to the board of commissioners.

Its deadline is October 31st.