{"id":59379,"date":"2025-12-12T18:35:29","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T18:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/59379\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T18:35:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T18:35:29","slug":"easton-2026-budget-property-taxes-unchanged-parking-rates-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/59379\/","title":{"rendered":"Easton 2026 budget: Property taxes unchanged, parking rates rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easton City Council<\/a> approved the city\u2019s 2026 budget on Wednesday, which includes a rise in parking meter costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The city adopted a budget<\/a> at council\u2019s meeting<\/a> Wednesday that balances $38,812,880 in revenues and expenses. For the 18th year in a row, the city will not increase property taxes.<\/p>\n

Parking revenue is a major component of the budget, with the combined total from meters and parking facilities projected at about $4.45 million.<\/p>\n

The city plans to increase hourly rates from $2 to $2.80 for non-prime locations and $2.50 to $3 for prime locations.<\/p>\n

These changes are expected to boost parking revenue by 31.4% compared to the 2025 budget.<\/p>\n

Though non-prime locations were planned for $2.75, council members discussed increasing the hourly rate by an additional five cents. The extra revenue from the additional five-cent increase was projected to bring in $118,000 to support the city\u2019s comprehensive plan and a city planner position.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a certified planner, and we need a new comp plan,\u201d Councilman Frank Pintabone said, \u201cFrom what I hear from residents, the majority of the time, they\u2019re concerned with the developments, the current parking requirements for the developments, and it\u2019s time to do a comp plan. It\u2019s been 10 years, so it\u2019s just something we have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the expenses side, 65% of Easton\u2019s total budget for 2026 include salaries and wages, covering municipal workers along with police and fire personnel. <\/p>\n

Funding for parks, open space, and recreation is also included, with allocations of $125,000 for open space and $1,921,823 for recreation.<\/p>\n

Pintabone proposed allocating $100,000 from open space funds to help create an inclusive special-needs playground. The idea was raised during discussions of capital spending priorities, with emphasis on ensuring the project meets accessibility needs. <\/p>\n

It would include swings for children with wheelchairs and children with walkers, and sensory boards. It would be included within a current park to avoid segregation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a great idea. We should be an inclusive society for all children. All children should be able to go to a park and play, whether they\u2019re wheelchair bound or not,\u201d Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said. \u201cMy only concern is, I don\u2019t want to spend $100,000 to see nobody use it. It\u2019s my only concern.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council members supported the idea, and it moved forward.<\/p>\n

Council members also revised funding for Easton\u2019s 250th anniversary celebration. The original allocation of about $90,000 was reduced to $50,000 to cover only essential components such as fireworks and equipment that could be reused for future events. <\/p>\n

Money that had been allocated for items like decorations, banners and promotional materials was removed, with $25,000 reallocated to the comprehensive plan and another $25,000 shifted to the city\u2019s contingency fund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Easton City Council approved the city\u2019s 2026 budget on Wednesday, which includes a rise in parking meter costs.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154],"class_list":{"0":"post-59379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59379","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=59379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}