- Allentown City Council on Saturday approved a budget without Mayor Matt Tuerk’s proposed 6.9% tax increase
- He's now proposing an increase of 2% to ensure some new positions and better pay for police and EMS workers
- Council member Ed Zucal slammed Tuerk's claim that he could have to cut the city's Fourth of July fireworks or Lights in the Parkway, calling it a "cheap political stunt and reckless scare tactic"
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Mayor Matt Tuerk will veto the 2024 budget that Allentown City Council approved over the weekend, he announced Wednesday afternoon.
Residents looked set to dodge a 6.9% tax increase Tuerk proposed as part of his $229 million budget for next year after council voted 5-2 to eliminate it before finalizing the city’s spending plan for next year on Saturday.
Tuerk had said the tax increases were needed to "effectively manage" Allentown’s finances, as the city has only once raised real estate tax taxes in the past two decades.
The additional revenues also would’ve been used to add new employees across many city departments.
“My reasoning is straightforward: if we implement a budget that does not adequately increase revenue, we won’t be able to keep doing things that all our residents consider important."Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on his decision to veto the 2024 budget passed by council
The mayor said Wednesday that a budget with no new taxes “will force our city to make substantial cuts.”
“After a lot of thought, I have decided to exercise my veto power on this ordinance,” he said in a memo to Allentown City Council members.
“My reasoning is straightforward: if we implement a budget that does not adequately increase revenue, we won’t be able to keep doing things that all our residents consider important."
The “elimination of property tax increases appears beneficial in the short term,” Tuerk said, but the lack of new revenues “will diminish the quality of life and public services that our residents rely on and deserve.”
The mayor urged council members to “explore alternative solutions that would avoid service reductions” and welcomed them back to the negotiating table to “formulate a budget that maintains fiscal responsibility without diminishing … essential services.”
Mayor seeking smaller tax increase
Tuerk is now asking council to consider a 2% property tax increase that would provide funding for raises within the city’s police department and emergency medical services, Allentown communications director Genesis Ortega said.
The scaled-back tax increase would also allow the mayor to hire a sustainability coordinator and a manager for the city’s new office for diversity, equity and inclusion — “investments that we think will have an incredible impact,” Ortega said.
Council could consider the 2% proposed tax increase at its Nov. 15 meeting or vote to override Tuerk’s veto. An override vote would require support from at least five of seven council members to be successful.
If council members do not agree to the 2% increase, Tuerk’s administration “will prioritize making sure that we offer basic city services,” Ortega said.
But that could mean cutting Allentown’s Fourth of July fireworks display, Lights in the Parkway and other special events, she said.
“We don't want that to happen, so we're hoping that council can come to a compromise with us and consider the 2% property tax increase that still allows us to do those things that we want to do,” Ortega said.
'Cheap political stunt'
Council member Ed Zucal released a statement Wednesday night, saying he "condemned Mayor Matt Tuerk's threat" to cancel those events, which "amount to pennies on the dollar within the city's budget."
“This is nothing short of a cheap political stunt and reckless scare tactic by this mayor to attempt to coerce city council into rubberstamping his budget,” Zucal said.
Tuerk should "consider cutting the excess in his own office" to balance the budget, Zucal said, adding council members "will not be intimidated" into approving tax increases.
"City Council will not permit the mayor to use Allentonians as pawns," he said. "I’m truly disappointed and dismayed by a mayor that would threaten events that bring joy to families and children simply because he didn’t get his way."
Council members on Saturday shot down Tuerk’s proposed tax increase by a 5-2 vote, with members Candida Affa and Santo Napoli supporting the tax hike.
Affa said Allentown residents would eventually be hit with a large tax increase if council doesn’t approve smaller incremental increases.
Not approving the tax increase would “hamstring” city employees, Napoli said, though he acknowledged citizens’ concerns.
Before Saturday’s vote, Tuerk made some adjustments to his proposal, providing an alternative funding cuts plan that would’ve saved the city about $750,000. That would’ve lowered his proposed tax increase to 4.57% instead of 6.9%.
Council also on Saturday rejected Tuerk’s request for a $120 annual hike in trash and recycling fees.
Members and the mayor agreed to a smaller increase that Tuerk said would keep the city’s recycling and solid waste fund solvent through 2024.
