ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Councilwoman Cynthia Mota last week secured a historic fourth term — she'll soon be the city's longest-ever-serving councilwoman.
But she used much of her victory speech Tuesday night at El Tipico in South Allentown to signal how she plans to finish out her third term.
“I cannot and will not support a tax increase this year,” Mota said to applause.
LehighValleyNews.com last month identified Mota as the likely deciding vote, with her six colleagues evenly split on the mayor’s request to raise taxes by about 4%.
“If my vote is the deciding vote … let me save you the suspense: No va a pasar. It’s not happening."Cynthia Mota, Allentown City Council
Members Daryl Hendricks, Santo Napoli and Candida Affa support the measure, while Ed Zucal and Natalie Santos are against it.
Ce-Ce Gerlach said she would only vote for a tax increase if additional revenues support housing initiatives. That is not part of Tuerk’s proposed budget.
“If my vote is the deciding vote … let me save you the suspense: No va a pasar. It’s not happening,” Mota said during her Election Night speech, which she delivered in English and Spanish.
The council vice president highlighted job cuts and the ongoing government shutdown’s effect on food assistance for about 2 million Pennsylvanians, including almost 100,000 people in the Lehigh Valley.
“Families are struggling … and at the grocery store, $100 does not nearly go [as] far,” Mota said. “And in the middle of all that, the mayor says that the answer is to raise taxes.”
'Real challenges' ahead
Allentown has not raised taxes in seven years. The millage rate last climbed at the start of 2019 after then-Mayor Ray O’Connell forced through a 27% property tax hike.
Tuerk and council sparred two years ago over the mayor’s proposed 6.9% tax increase for 2024. That request found no support among members, but Napoli and Affa later supported a 4.57% increase.
Council twice passed a 2024 budget that included no increase. The mayor vetoed one but let the second take effect without his signature.
"I’m calling on the mayor to tighten up the [budget] and do more with less — what all of us are doing at home."Cynthia Mota, Allentown City Council
Tuerk last year proposed a flat tax rate in the 2025 budget, which council approved. Allentown officials were able to balance that budget without raising taxes because the city earned millions more than projected on its investments in 2024.
Mota said she recognizes the city’s “need to increase revenue to cover rising costs” of salaries, insurance, infrastructure and more, and to replace lost federal funding.
“Those are real challenges, and I do not dismiss them,” she said. “But that’s exactly why we need to take a hard look at how we plan, how we prioritize and how we adapt.”
Mota said she believes the mayor’s request to raise taxes “is the result of poor financial management, not fiscal necessity.”
“Poor financial management is not the taxpayers' problem to solve,” she said.
“Tonight, I’m calling on the mayor to tighten up the [budget] and do more with less — what all of us are doing at home,” she said.
'Trying to spare residents another shock'
Tuerk on Friday touted the city’s recent strides toward financial stability, which led to its highest-ever bond rating and an "incredibly healthy general fund balance” during his first term.
The mayor said his 2026 budget proposal is “the product of years of excellent financial management.”
“We have done everything that we can do to continue to provide the level of service that Allentown residents deserve. In order to keep that level of service, we’re asking residents to pay a little bit more.”Mayor Matt Tuerk
“We have done everything that we can do to continue to provide the level of service that Allentown residents deserve,” Tuerk told LehighValleyNews.com.
“In order to keep that level of service, we’re asking residents to pay a little bit more.”
Most Allentown homeowners should expect to pay about $2 more each month if the tax increase is approved, Tuerk said. The city’s online “Property Tax Lookup Tool” shows residents their 2026 annual taxes and the monthly increase they’d face.
Tuerk said he plans to continue lobbying with Mota and other council members for what he believes is a necessary and “palatable” tax increase.
“It is the height of fiscal irresponsibility to not do a slight increase” in 2026 after seven years without a hike, Tuerk said.
“We’re trying to spare residents another shock like” the one felt as tax climbed 27% in 2019, he said.
