ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown City Council on Tuesday set itself up for what could be a long series of committee meetings next week.
Members met for a quick special session after postponing their meeting on the eve of Independence Day.
Council introduced a handful of resolutions and ordinances, some of which will be the focus of several committee meetings July 17.
Those measures include the appointment of five new police officers, two six-figure budgetary transfers, and a potential ballot question in November.
Council is set to consider removing Allentown's deed-transfer tax from a list of revenues sources it can't raise.
Members can't increase taxes beyond the rates set at in 1996 on deed transfers, earned income, business privileges and amusement devices, among other sources.
The city’s home-rule charter also bars council from establishing new taxes, except for an emergency and municipal service tax.
“Revenue-limitation measures in the Home Rule Charter place too much burden on the city residents to generate revenue” from other sources.Allentown officials
Council can raise property taxes by a simple majority vote.
The city’s finance department is requesting the change to make the city’s revenue streams “more equitable.”
“Revenue-limitation measures in the Home Rule Charter place too much burden on the city residents to generate revenue” from other sources, officials said in a memo supporting the ballot question.
Deed-transfer taxes are paid when real estate changes hands, meaning any raise could hit developers and landlords harder than it does most residents.
If council votes to unfreeze deed-transfer tax rates set almost 30 years ago, a referendum could be placed on residents’ ballots in November.
Support for homeless residents
Council members also are scheduled to consider another resolution in support of unsheltered people’s rights after they shot down a similar measure last month.
Allentown’s Commission on Homelessness worked more than a year on a Homeless Bill of Rights before council looked at it June 26.
A line of residents — some from the commission — urged a council committee to pass the proposal, but the resolution garnered little support beyond councilwomen Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos.
Gerlach, who said she slept in her car for about six months in 2009, tried to persuade her colleagues to support the Bill of Rights, which was crafted as a purely symbolic statement.
But five of seven members voted against it.
Mayor Matt Tuerk told LehighValleyNews.com he thought the Homeless Bill of Rights was “a bit of a distraction” from solutions to a housing crisis throughout the city and region.
“The city of Allentown will not arrest or ticket individuals solely for the condition of being homeless, focusing instead on supportive and constructive measures."Proposed resolution
The new proposal says it would cement people’s rights to enjoy public spaces and “affirm the rights of all individuals, including those experiencing homelessness.”
“The city will implement measures to balance the use of these spaces for recreation, relaxation and community activities with the needs of all community members, including those experiencing homelessness,” the proposed resolution states.
It also references the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, in which the court upheld the Oregon city’s authority to issue citations to people found sleeping outside.
“The city of Allentown will not arrest or ticket individuals solely for the condition of being homeless, focusing instead on supportive and constructive measures,” the resolution states.
