Allentown City Council will meet Tuesday as an end-of-year deadline approaches to determine whether the mayor or council will prevail in budget negotiations centered on a conflict over property taxes and trash fees.
City Clerk Michael Hanlon confirmed that council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Members have until Dec. 31 to reach a deal on the budget, after Mayor Matt Tuerk vetoed their latest budget proposal last week.
Council voted 4-3 on Dec. 17 to reject a compromise Tuerk supported that would have increased taxes 3.96% and reduced a scheduled increase in city trash fees by $50.
Council members Cynthia Mota, Natalie Santos, Ed Zucal and Ce-Ce Gerlach instead voted to reject the tax increase and keep the full $140 trash fee hike, which would bring the annual fee to $740. Council members Daryl Hendricks, Candida Affa and Santo Napoli voted in favor of the mayor’s plan.
An agenda posted for Tuesday’s meeting indicates council will be asked to vote on overriding Tuerk’s veto and to vote again on his compromise proposal.
Five council members would have to vote in favor of overriding Tuerk’s veto.
Continued high inflation means city residents can’t afford a tax increase, opponents of the mayor’s compromise plan argued. However, if another compromise is not reached to override the mayor’s veto, Tuerk’s proposed budget will go into effect Jan. 1.
In a letter to City Council explaining his veto of their amended budget plan, Tuerk said, “My reasoning is simple: the amended budget does not adequately increase revenue to meet the City’s rising costs, and we cannot jeopardize our financial health by using our limited cash reserves to balance our budget.”
Reduced federal funding means depleting cash reserves without increasing revenue and would put the city at financial risk, Tuerk wrote.
“Allentown must continue to keep our public spaces clean and our residents safe while also providing our employees with livable wages and competitive benefits — all while maintaining fiscal responsibility. We must raise revenue. A City that tries to live off cash cannot survive long,” Tuerk said.
The mayor’s office has calculated that 23,000 out of 26,000 households in Allentown would save money under Tuerk’s compromise proposal, because property taxes are calculated according to a home’s assessed value, meaning those with lower-value homes would pay less, as the tax increase would be offset by the savings in their trash fees.
