- Easton held their first 2024 budget hearing on Tuesday evening
- Focal points included methods to alleviate the burden of a rate increase for trash pickup starting next year
- Suggestions to cut the cost of the bump included a hike in on-street parking rates, which largely fall on visitors but not residents
EASTON, Pa. — In the first of a series of meetings concerning the 2024 budget in Easton, discussion on trash fees and ways to alleviate the burden on city residents reigned supreme.
During a Tuesday evening presentation lasting about two hours, Easton Finance Director Mark Lysynecky and City Administrator Luis Campos reviewed several sections of the proposed 2024 budget and took questions. One of the biggest points of interest among board members was the increase in trash collection fees for city residents – a price hike the council members are looking to potentially alleviate via bumped-up street parking rates.
According to data from a general fund revenue for the city, solid waste fees are set to go up $5 a moth per resident in 2024.
Bidding for solid waste and recycling transportation contracts in the city recently revealed a significant overall increase. Late last month, the city council approved a $2,422,393.81 contract with Whitetail Disposal Inc., effectively doubling the rate, Director of Public Services David Hopkins said.
“It sounds like there's some healthy debate, and that there's going to be some good discussion and potentially some compromises there.”City Administrator Luis Campos
Current rates for Easton City residents are $34 per month per household.
As for parking, police parking fines are slightly down, given the 2023 trend, and proceeds from the Easton Parking Authority remain flat, pending the results of a parking summit analysis. Within the general fund budget, there is a mention of a $0.50 increase per hour for combined parking meters.
But in order to minimize the effect of the increased trash rates on city residents, further increases in street parking may be the best option – at least according to some council members.
“I think for our residents that have low to moderate income, we need to give them a little bit of a break,” Councilmember Dr. Roger Ruggles said. “We can't think that they'll absorb those big increases, you know, so, parking may be a way in which we can do that. So that's the way the budget is formulated right now, but I think there's a balance here that we could work with to get that maybe a little bit more equitably distributed.”
Mayor Sal Panto Jr. acknowledged that the “city council asked some good questions, and we’re talking about parking,” though he does foresee some challenges in enacting an increase.
“I think that is a sticking issue, going to $1.50. But if they come up with better ways of making more available on-street parking by raising the price, I agree with that,” Panto said.
“I mean, every parking city study we have says that Centre Square should be more expensive than the rest of Downtown. And I agree with it, and I've read those reports. But enacting it is difficult because the businesses don't understand that you want at least three or four spaces on every block available for people who want to park there, but we'll see what happens.”
Some members of the council proposed Centre Square parking should be raised to $3 per hour and $2 per hour elsewhere in the city.
Councilmember-elect Frank Pintabone, who attended the meeting to stay abreast of the budget for 2024 and gain some knowledge on what he will be dealing with, noted the parking increases could be an effective move to curb trash rate increases for residents.
“When I asked the mayor, 80% or more of the revenue that comes from parking comes from visitors. So if something needs to be increased, you never want to increase anything on anybody – but if something needs to be increased, if we have to raise the meter a quarter from to $1.75, as opposed to $1.50, and that will offset the residents from having to pay increased garbage fees, then that's something that I would like to look at,” Pintabone said.
Pintabone added other local municipalities charge $2 per hour for on-street parking, as opposed to $1 per hour in Easton. A $0.75 increase – or more – could go a long way toward easing the increased trash rate burden for local residents.
Lysynecky said he understood the budget increase for parking would be “controversial,” though it stands as a reasonable method to help balance the budget effectively without calling for any additional increases.
“With the pressures we were under to balance a budget, those seem to be the most logical ways that we could pass along some of the costs for the trash increases. And then also, you know, absorb some of the other costs with parking, and kind of spread that pain, if you will,” Lysynecky said.
Considering the limited room administration has to move money around the budget – Campos pointed out personnel costs are set under three-year contracts and are a fixed line item which cannot really change – those increased parking fees may be the council’s best chance to stifle any upset from those trash fees.
At least three meetings remain for budget review – the next two are set for Oct. 24 and Nov. 7 and will be held in council chambers but not live-streamed – there is still time to work out the kinks.
“I think they had a good debate tonight on who really absorbs those parking meter fees, and who really absorbs the trash fee increases,” Campos said. “It sounds like there's some healthy debate, and that there's going to be some good discussion and potentially some compromises there. It's too early to tell where it's actually going – that usually happens at the last session.”
