Tuerk\u2019s proposed budget<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cIf my vote is the deciding vote \u2026 let me save you the suspense: No va pa sa. It\u2019s not happening,\u201d Mota said during her Election Night speech, which she delivered in English and Spanish. <\/p>\n
The council vice president highlighted job cuts and the ongoing government shutdown\u2019s effect on food assistance for about 2 million Pennsylvanians, including almost 100,000 people in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies are struggling \u2026 and at the grocery store, $100 does not nearly go [as] far,\u201d Mota said. \u201cAnd in the middle of all that, the mayor says that the answer is to raise taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Real challenges’ ahead<\/p>\n
Allentown has not raised taxes in seven years. The millage rate last climbed at the start of 2019 after then-Mayor Ray O\u2019Connell forced through a 27% property tax hike.<\/p>\n
Tuerk and council sparred two years ago over the mayor\u2019s proposed 6.9% tax increase for 2024. That request found no support among members, but Napoli and Affa later supported a 4.57% increase.<\/p>\n
Council twice passed a 2024 budget that included no increase. The mayor vetoed one but let the second take effect without his signature.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019m calling on the mayor to tighten up the [budget] and do more with less \u2014 what all of us are doing at home.”<\/p>\n
Cynthia Mota, Allentown City Council<\/p>\n
Tuerk last year proposed a flat tax rate in the 2025 budget, which council approved. Allentown officials were able to balance that budget without raising taxes because the city earned millions more than projected on its investments in 2024. <\/p>\n
Mota said she recognizes the city\u2019s \u201cneed to increase revenue to cover rising costs\u201d of salaries, insurance, infrastructure and more, and to replace lost federal funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are real challenges, and I do not dismiss them,\u201d she said. \u201cBut that\u2019s exactly why we need to take a hard look at how we plan, how we prioritize and how we adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mota said she believes the mayor\u2019s request to raise taxes \u201cis the result of poor financial management, not fiscal necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPoor financial management is not the taxpayers’ problem to solve,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, I\u2019m calling on the mayor to tighten up the [budget] and do more with less \u2014 what all of us are doing at home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
‘Trying to spare residents another shock’<\/p>\n
Tuerk on Friday touted the city\u2019s recent strides toward financial stability, which led to its highest-ever bond rating and an “incredibly healthy general fund balance\u201d during his first term.<\/p>\n
The mayor said his 2026 budget proposal is \u201cthe product of years of excellent financial management.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have done everything that we can do to continue to provide the level of service that Allentown residents deserve. In order to keep that level of service, we\u2019re asking residents to pay a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Matt Tuerk<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have done everything that we can do to continue to provide the level of service that Allentown residents deserve,\u201d Tuerk told LehighValleyNews.com. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to keep that level of service, we\u2019re asking residents to pay a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most Allentown homeowners should expect to pay about $2 more each month if the tax increase is approved, Tuerk said. The city\u2019s online \u201cProperty Tax Lookup Tool\u201d shows residents their 2026 annual taxes<\/a> and the monthly increase they\u2019d face.<\/p>\nTuerk said he plans to continue lobbying with Mota and other council members for what he believes is a necessary and \u201cpalatable\u201d tax increase.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the height of fiscal responsibility to not do a slight increase\u201d in 2026 after seven years without a hike, Tuerk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to spare residents another shock like\u201d the one felt as tax climbed 27% in 2019, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 Councilwoman Cynthia Mota last week secured a historic fourth term \u2014 she’ll soon be the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,3876,3179,2748,121,120,3878,13734,19090,3879,14934,3553],"class_list":{"0":"post-29999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-2026-budget","10":"tag-allentown-budget","11":"tag-allentown-city-council","12":"tag-allentown-headlines","13":"tag-allentown-news","14":"tag-allentown-proposed-tax-increase","15":"tag-allentown-tax-increase","16":"tag-allentown-tax-increase-shot-down","17":"tag-allentown-taxes","18":"tag-cynthia-mota","19":"tag-mayor-matt-tuerk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29999","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=29999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}