Allentown City Council adopts 2026 budget without tax increase | State

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Allentown City Council voted 4-3 Wednesday night to adopt a $245 million budget for 2026, without any tax increase.

The 2026 budget was presented to council by Mayor Matt Tuerk back in October. In it, he proposed a 3.96% property tax increase to generate revenue for the city and help maintain services.

However, the budget adopted Wednesday night did not include that property tax increase.

It’s a move many residents were hoping for.

“Because you know what’s gonna happen to renters when the taxes go up? The property owners are going pass it along to them,” said one Allentown resident.

Councilmembers Candida Affa, Daryl L. Hendricks and Santo Napoli voted against the version of the budget without the tax increase because they favored reinstating the administration’s recommendation for the 3.96% tax increase in return for lowing the trash fees by $50.

During a special meeting prior to the regular meeting Wednesday night, those three councilmembers sponsored an amendment to decrease the solid waste fee and reinstate the tax increase.

That amendment failed at the special meeting because Councilmembers Ed Zucal, Ce-Ce Gerlach, Natalie Santos and Cynthia Mota were not swayed by the administration or their colleagues who favored the compromise.

On Nov. 19, council amended the proposed general fund budget to remove Mayor Matt Tuerk’s recommendation for the tax increase.

At that time, the mayor proposed a compromise that would reduce the solid waste fee by $25.

At a special meeting on Dec. 3, Affa, Hendricks and Santo proposed the $50 reduction in exchange for reinstatement of the tax increase.

The administration said the compromise would not disproportionately impact fixed-income taxpayers and would have a positive impact on 23,000 properties.

During Wednesday night’s special meeting, Tuerk praised Affa, Hendricks and Santo for finding common ground in supporting the proposed amendment.

“It does two things that are important,” Tuerk explained. “It preserves the quality of service that many men and women deliver to our residents every day, but it also makes sure that people who are struggling aren’t getting hit harder than they need to.”

“We’re making a sacrifice. We’re preserving our ability to continue to serve residents,” the mayor said. “I just want to thank you for engaging in that spirit of compromise, and I hope that the other colleagues who have listened to this discussion will seriously consider making a move in the right direction here.”

Mota said she appreciated the mayor for the proposed compromise but added that a tax increase goes against the concerns of the people she represents.

“Any decision we make, we must consider the ripple effect it has on our residents, their families, small businesses and seniors who are already struggling to keep up with the rising costs,” Mota said. “And I meant what I said on election night, that I will stand by the people who voted for me and asked me not to raise their taxes.”

Gerlach said she appreciated the administration focusing on preserving affordability for the working class.

“But if that is truly the intent, then we would also be looking at more institutional ways to tax the wealthy, and we have not done that,” Gerlach said.

Affa said she sponsored the proposed amendment because she endorses the concept on small incremental tax increases.

“This is the best thing for our citizens,” she said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, and by this knocking $50 off of the garbage fee, basically 23,000 people are saving money from what they had.”

Tuerk said because the amendment did not pass, the administration will be forced to use money from the city’s fund balance to balance the spending plan.

Members of the administration had previously said they did not want to do that, as it could jeopardize the city’s bond rating and possibly jeopardize the city’s borrowing power for planned capital projects.

Earlier this year, City Council approved a plan to spend millions to build a new fire and public safety building. Some councilmembers are concerned that without a property tax increase, the city won’t have enough money to cover the costs.

“If we don’t have this increase, what’s going to happen when we go to do these capital projects? It’s going to cost us more,” Affa said.

Because the budget was passed without the compromised amendment, residents will have to pay the original $140 increase to the annual trash bill, which will bring the annual residential trash bill to $740.

Still, this budget will go back to Mayor Tuerk, and he’ll have some time to review it. However, if he vetoes it, the original budget with the property tax increase could stand.