ALLENTOWN, Pa. — City residents could be paying a bit more next year on their property taxes.
Mayor Matt Tuerk on Thursday morning presented his 2026 budget, which includes a 3.96% property-tax increase — the first rate hike in seven years.
That increase will raise an additional $1.5 million, according to Finance Director Bina Patel.
The city also plans to use about $2.6 million in reserve cash to balance the budget, she said.
Allentown needs additional revenues to continue funding essential services, with the pandemic and inflation causing costs to climb for all in recent years, including municipal governments, Tuerk said.
And city officials were forced to replace about $4.5 million in lost federal funding, including cuts that affect disease surveillance and city parks and vehicles, according to the mayor.
“In a normal world, we have a lot of support from our federal government, but in this moment, they are not helping us at all,” he said.
The 2026 budget proposal includes “a small tax increase, but it’s going to keep the momentum going in a city that’s doing better,” Tuerk said. “We’ve come a long way in the past four years, but there’s a lot more to do.”
The proposed budget fully funds city services at current levels without adding new positions, according to officials.
“This budget represents a commitment to the people of Allentown, to the people who work for our city, and to the idea that we're all in this together,” Tuerk said.
The mayor last year presented a balanced budget without tax increases after Allentown earned about $6.2 million more than projected for 2024, thanks in large part to higher-than-expected returns on investments and a significant increase in the city’s total assessed property value.
But he warned then that taxes would likely have to climb in 2026.
Strong support from council
The mayor’s proposal looks set to find some support on Allentown City Council.
“We didn’t have one last year. And let’s face it, a lot of expenses have gone up.”Allentown City Council President Daryl Hendricks
Three members — Daryl Hendricks, Santo Napoli and Candida Affa — on Wednesday night said they were open to higher taxes without knowing details Tuerk presented Thursday.
Hendricks said he would support a tax increase “as long as I feel it’s a fair deal for the taxpayers.”
“We didn’t have one last year,” he said. “And let’s face it, a lot of expenses have gone up.”
Affa said she would support property taxes rising by a few percentage points. She’s called for small annual increases to stave off any need for a larger hike, as happened in late 2018 as officials crafted the 2019 budget.
Council members Ed Zucal — who is challenging Tuerk for mayor in the Nov. 4 election — and Natalie Santos said they would not support a tax increase in next year’s budget.
Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach said she is against a tax increase unless additional revenues support housing in the city.
That could leave Council Vice President Cynthia Mota as the deciding vote on a tax increase.
Tuerk sparred two years ago with council members over his 2024 budget proposal. Tuerk initially sought a 6.9% tax increase that was dead on arrival. He quickly lowered that proposed hike to 4.57%, picking up votes from Napoli and Affa.
He then proposed a 2% tax increase before council pushed through a budget with no hike. Tuerk vetoed that budget, but council passed another budget that would have required the city to borrow about $760,000 to balance its books that year.
The mayor let that budget take effect without his signature.
Allentown last raised its millage rate during the 2019 budget process. Then-Mayor Ray O’Connell in the last possible minute forced through a 27% property-tax hike after he couldn’t reach an agreement with council.
