Josh Siegel, Pennsylvania\u2019s youngest ever county executive, laid out his ambitious plans for a more responsive, progressive and active local government during his first State of Lehigh County address.<\/p>\n
Siegel, who was elected in November 2025, said that his address was \u201caspirational\u201d and bold about his plans for the county. Specific proposals included empowering local authorities to build more public housing, declaring a countywide homelessness emergency, countering new federal work requirements for Medicaid and food assistance, and ending cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He also suggested a new 1% sales tax as a way to address the county\u2019s structural deficit, and tying the new revenue to some of his initiatives.<\/p>\n
During the address Thursday, the 32-year-old executive vowed to be \u201chonest and straightforward\u201d and transparent with his constituents, and to not shy away from difficult conversations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe a hard truth is always better than a soft lie,\u201d Siegel said. \u201cLeadership is about having the courage to suggest real solutions, even when they\u2019re difficult. It\u2019s about choosing the right path, not the one of least resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here are the key takeaways from Siegel\u2019s address, which was given at the county-owned Coca-Cola Park.<\/p>\n
Addressing the structural deficit<\/p>\n
Since 2021, the county budget has run a structural deficit every year except for 2024, when the county tapped COVID relief funds for a one-time investment to balance the budget, Siegel said. The county\u2019s deficit is expected to rise to $5 million by 2027, as the cost of and demand for county services has increased.<\/p>\n
The county has dug into its operating fund to balance its budget, which sits at around $28 million \u2013 a relatively paltry sum for a county with an over $500 billion annual budget \u2013 and the county risks further dwindling that amount if it does not increase its sources of revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me put it plainly: there are no cupboards left to raid or seat cushions to shake,\u201d Siegel said. \u201cOur county has done more with less for too long, and we can no longer kick the can down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
He suggested the county could impose a 1% sales tax to increase revenue, and tie the increase to strategic local projects like housing, homelessness, mental health and public transportation initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith federal funding cuts and limitations in the state\u2019s ability to make up that shortfall, I believe it is imperative we allow regions to chart their own course, \u201d Siegel said.<\/p>\n
He also proposed establishing a Tourism Improvement District, which is a type of public-private partnership that aims to increase the number of overnight visitors in the area. He claimed that such a partnership, if successful, could generate an additional $23 million in local spending, and $7.5 million in additional revenue to local governments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose aren\u2019t just heads in beds, but feet on the street, shopping and dining. Every dollar we spend attracting those visitors results in 12 dollars spent while they\u2019re here,\u201d Siegel said.<\/p>\n
Housing and homelessness<\/p>\n
Siegel vowed that addressing a lack of affordable housing in Lehigh County would \u201cremain front and center\u201d among his priorities for the county.<\/p>\n
He proposed several ideas to address the crisis, all of which prioritize building additional housing to meet increasing demand. The Lehigh Valley region\u2019s population is expected to increase by 100,000 by 2050, according to projections from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.<\/p>\n
Siegel proposed empowering local housing authorities to buy existing housing stock to convert it into affordable housing units. He also called on local authorities to simplify their permitting process to allow housing to be built more quickly.<\/p>\n
In the coming days, Siegel vowed to sign an executive order declaring homelessness a countywide emergency, and task county staff to come up with a strategic plan to address it..<\/p>\n
The era of bulldozed encampments and reactionary responses to our homeless residents must end,\u201d he said, referring to Allentown\u2019s decision to evacuate a homeless encampment along the Jordan Creek in September 2025,\u00a0leaving dozens with nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n
Siegel also suggested using the county\u2019s vacant, 400-bed Community Corrections Center as a shelter or temporary transitional housing for homeless people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could functionally eliminate homelessness in this county, in this region, with that investment alone,\u201d Siegel said, to applause from the sold-out audience.<\/p>\n
He added that counties in Seattle and New York have repurposed former jails into temporary housing successfully.<\/p>\n
Addressing federal government uncertainty<\/p>\n
Siegel did not shy away from criticism of the federal government, calling Trump\u2019s administration \u201canimated by chaos, corruption and cruelty.\u201d<\/p>\n
He called the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP via the Big Beautiful Bill, which introduce work requirements to people eligible for those programs, \u201cdevastating\u201d to Lehigh County residents. Siegel announced the county would partner with the United Way to \u201ccoordinate communications, messaging and coordinate with healthcare partners to prevent our neighbors from losing their healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other initiatives the county could launch to counter health insurance and food aid cuts include developing volunteer opportunities to ensure people can continue to be eligible for Medicaid and SNAP, and launching a medical debt relief fund via philanthropic partnerships.<\/p>\n
Siegel also said that his administration would introduce a bill ordering non-cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The county is weighing creating a database of ICE operations, if the agency were to increase its presence in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that where there is instability and chaos, Lehigh County must step up to provide stability and certainty,\u201d Siegel said. \u201cThere are those who believe we must keep our heads down, stay silent and refuse to speak out. I think appeasement only inspires the next Minneapolis, that capitulation only encourages more overreach. We must be the buttress and backstop against darkness and division.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at Liweber@mcall.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Siegel, Pennsylvania\u2019s youngest ever county executive, laid out his ambitious plans for a more responsive, progressive and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,433,182,139,28,50,432],"class_list":["post-124764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-lehigh-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-politics","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}