ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Allentown officials are looking to get the public more involved as the city’s 2027 budget process gets underway.<\/p>\n
A resolution adopted by city council earlier this year pledged to better evaluate the annual budget review.<\/p>\n
One thing that some city officials say could help the process this year is turnover on city council, which they say has helped reform the review to make it smoother and more transparent.<\/p>\n
When 28-year-old Cristian Pungo joined the Allentown City Council in January, he vowed to reform a budget process that he says had become confusing and time-consuming.<\/p>\n
“It helps when we’re all on the same page, when we know what we’re spending the money on,” Pungo said.<\/p>\n
Pungo is part of a review team to see what council and the administration can do better.<\/p>\n
The review found that many times, while city council was asking the right questions, members were asking them too late, bogging down the process.<\/p>\n
“We work very hard to make sure that the public knows how its money is being spent. I mean, it’s the law everywhere,” said Allentown Managing Director Frank Kane.<\/p>\n
One recommendation is that the council become more active. As part of that effort, they have implemented a budget question tracker where members can submit questions to the administration and track responses.<\/p>\n
“It’s meant to specifically have the communication between council members and the city’s finance team. The way that we engage the public is that these questions will be released at council budget meetings,” Councilman Pungo said.<\/p>\n