ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown City Council is set to reopen negotiations over the 2024 budget Tuesday after an almost-four-week break in public talks.
But council has not been idle, with members setting the stage for a massive redevelopment at the former Allentown State Hospital and passing a vote of no-confidence against Mayor Matt Tuerk since the last time they talked about the city’s spending plan for next year.
Tuerk revealed his 2024 budget proposal in mid-October, asking council to approve a 6.9% property-tax increase that would have funded many new employees across city departments.
But the mayor cut his request to 4.57% by the time council met Nov. 4 to pass the budget.
Two members — Candida Affa and Santo Napoli — signaled their support for that proposal, but council went on to unanimously pass a budget with no new taxes.
Council’s budget eliminated all new positions proposed by Tuerk and slashed spending with blanket reductions, including a 10% drop in all overtime budgets across city offices.
“I deeply believe in providing high-quality services to our residents. We can continue to do that at 2%. At 0%, we have to make cuts that are going to be felt by all of our residents. That’s unfair. That’s called disinvestment.”Mayor Matt Tuerk on Nov. 15
Less than a week later, Tuerk vetoed council’s tax-increase-free budget.
He said Allentown needs to raise new revenue through taxes to continue serving residents at the levels they’ve come to expect.
Tuerk pointed to inflation and contractually obligated raises as main drivers for increasing costs, and urged council to reopen budget negotiations over a 2% tax increase.
“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,” Tuerk told council Nov. 8 in a memo explaining his veto.
Council failed to override Tuerk’s veto Nov. 15, with President Daryl Hendricks joining Affa and Napoli to defeat the measure that would have made council’s budget the official spending plan for the city.
Later that day, members rejected a 2% property-tax increase proposed by the mayor, sparking something of a budgetary standoff just over six weeks before the new year.
Tuerk told LehighValleyNews.com last month that he would again propose a 2% tax increase, for which Hendricks voiced his support.
“I deeply believe in providing high-quality services to our residents,” Tuerk said. “We can continue to do that at 2 percent. At 0 percent, we have to make cuts that are going to be felt by all of our residents.
"That’s unfair. That’s called disinvestment.”
Council is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall to once again try to set the city’s tax rate and adopt a 2024 budget.
“They need to agree to a budget, which means that council has to pass it and the mayor has to sign it.”Mike Hanlon, Allentown City Clerk
Tuerk must persuade at least one more council member to soften his or her stance on new taxes.
But Councilman Ed Zucal said he expects council will reject any tax increase proposed by Tuerk.
“I think it’s going to remain 4-3,” Zucal said.
No default option
There will be no budget for the city if the mayor and council don’t reach an agreement, as Allentown voters eliminated a fallback option once available to officials.
Voters in 2019 removed a provision that allowed then-Mayor Ray O’Connell to sidestep Allentown City Council in the budget process.
In late 2018, O’Connell proposed a 27% property-tax increase that was shot down by council. But O'Connell vetoed council’s spending plan just before the city’s deadline to pass a budget.
That ensured O’Connell’s huge tax increase took effect despite council’s rejection.
Less than a year later, more than 90% of Allentown voters supported a referendum to remove the default-budget option.
“There is no default,” Allentown City Clerk Mike Hanlon said.
“They need to reach an agreement,” Hanlom said. “They need to agree to a budget, which means that council has to pass it and the mayor has to sign it.”
