Lehigh County families understand a basic rule of budgeting: You cannot continually spend more than you take in.<\/p>\n
When a family\u2019s expenses exceed its income, it doesn\u2019t get to simply demand more money from its neighbors. It looks at the budget, separates needs from wants, finds savings and makes difficult choices.\u00a0Government should be held to the same standard.<\/p>\n
County Executive Josh Siegel\u2019s proposed 2027 budget calls for a 17.7% property tax increase, raising the county millage rate from 3.78 to 4.45. His administration says the increase is needed to address a structural deficit, protect Cedarbrook and rebuild the county\u2019s stabilization fund. The proposal would generate more than $21 million in new revenue.<\/p>\n
Those are legitimate fiscal concerns. Cedarbrook is an essential county institution and maintaining responsible reserves matters.<\/p>\n
But a nearly 18% property tax increase should truly be a last resort.<\/p>\n
That is particularly important because during the 2025 PBS debate for county executive, Siegel told voters exactly that. Discussing county finances, he said a tax increase would be the \u201cabsolute last possible option.\u201d He spoke instead about finding internal savings and alternative sources of revenue.\u00a0Less than a year later, taxpayers are entitled to ask: What happened to those alternatives?<\/p>\n
Before asking homeowners, seniors and small businesses to pay nearly 18% more in county property taxes, county officials should show taxpayers exactly what has been cut, consolidated, renegotiated or postponed. They should demonstrate, line by line, that this really is the \u201clast possible option.\u201d<\/p>\n
And one item in this proposed budget makes that argument considerably more difficult.\u00a0The spending plan reportedly includes funding for a \u201cclean election\u201d program that would provide public funding for political candidates.<\/p>\n
As someone running for office, a program that matches campaign contributions with taxpayer dollars would benefit me directly. But that is precisely why I do not think it belongs in this budget. Personal advantage is the wrong reason to support any spending item, and county taxpayers, including those who would never vote for me, should not be asked to underwrite any candidate\u2019s campaign. Mine included.<\/p>\n
Whatever one thinks about taxpayer-funded campaigns as a matter of political philosophy, this is the wrong time to make them a spending priority.\u00a0If Lehigh County\u2019s finances are strained enough that taxpayers must absorb a nearly 18% increase, then financing political campaigns with public money should not be part of the budget.<\/p>\n
County government has essential responsibilities. It cares for seniors at Cedarbrook. It supports children and families. It operates our courts and jail, provides human services, administers elections and helps protect public safety. Paying for candidates\u2019 campaigns does not belong in the same category.<\/p>\n
A \u201cclean election\u201d should mean transparent campaign contributions, strong disclosure requirements, equal enforcement of election laws and accountability for candidates. It should not require taxpayers, including people who may strongly oppose a candidate, to subsidize that candidate\u2019s political campaign.<\/p>\n
The larger concern is that raising taxes does not eliminate the underlying need for fiscal discipline. The county\u2019s published proposed 2027 budget summary lists approximately $562 million in revenues and $565.8 million in expenditures, a difference of about $3.76 million. A significant tax increase without a long-term strategy to control spending risks postponing the same conversation until the next budget cycle.<\/p>\n
Protecting the stabilization fund is responsible. But a rainy-day fund should protect taxpayers when genuine emergencies arise. It should not relieve government of the responsibility to prioritize spending.<\/p>\n
Lehigh County commissioners now have an opportunity to improve this budget.\u00a0Start by removing taxpayer-funded political campaigns. Require a public accounting of the savings and efficiencies pursued before the tax increase was proposed. Protect Cedarbrook and core county services, but distinguish clearly between necessities and new initiatives. And then determine what tax increase, if any, is actually unavoidable.<\/p>\n
Voters were told a property tax increase would be the absolute last possible option. Before Lehigh County raises their taxes by 17.7%, they deserve proof that it really was.<\/p>\n
This is a contributed opinion column. Caren Lowrey is a certified prevention and education specialist who works in schools throughout the Lehigh Valley. She is running as a Republican in the November election to represent state House District 132. 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. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at mcall.com\/opinions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lehigh County families understand a basic rule of budgeting: You cannot continually spend more than you take in.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,1559],"class_list":["post-288885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288885","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=288885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}