ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk on Monday released his proposed 2022-23 budget for the city, which includes no tax or fee increases and requires no additional borrowing.
- Allentown's mayor has proposed a $138 million budget for the city with no tax increases
- Funding is set aside for investment into personnel, public safety and equipment for first responders
- Mayor Tuerk plans to deliver this proposal on Oct. 26
- The city must adopt a budget before the end of the year
Yet Tuerk noted that inflation has caused costs to raise across the board, meaning there could be tax increases coming in the not-too-distant future.
"We will at some point in the future have to raise taxes. We are not going to do it in 2023," he said. "But we know that it will come in the future."
In a letter to city council that accompanied the $138 million proposal, the mayor said the budget is “built around our employees” and represents an investment in human capital.
The mayor expects to deliver his proposal to Allentown's city council on Oct. 26.
One thing that the mayor said he's especially proud of is the transparency he believes this proposal provides for council's review.
"What they are going to be able to see for the very first time in an incredibly transparent budget," Tuerk said. "They are going to be able to look, line-by-line, and see what our plan for 2023 is. That's a pretty radical departure from how previous budgets worked." He noted that in previous years, information often was boiled down into a lump sum.
"This year, we are giving them the detail," he added.
Some highlights of the mayor's proposal include investment into public safety, personnel and equipment for first responders.
For example, the proposal sets aside $332,000 for five additional patrol officers for the police, $243,000 for four new paramedics and $1.2 million for the fire administration budget to allow for a staff of 29 people.
There’s also $3 million set aside for equipment that the police, the fire department, public works and the parks department might need in the future. Nearly $400,000 of that would be for nine new police patrol SUVs.
"We will at some point in the future have to raise taxes. We are not going to do it in 2023. But, we know that it will come in the future."Mayor Matt Tuerk
Tuerk’s proposal also calls for using $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to replace revenue the city lost because of the pandemic.
Tuerk also plans to use $1.4 million in ARPA funds to offset costs of new positions for police, emergency medical services, parks, public works, human resources, law and community and economic development,
The mayor’s proposal noted that the city is expected to start next year with $29 million in its general fund—a 45% increase from the previous year.
“Given the state of things, we are also finally at a position where we can establish a strong fund balance policy," Tuerk wrote in his letter to city council. "All of this gives us excellent perspective of the financial state of the city in the next two years."
The city's property tax rate is 23.5376 mills for land and 4.4528 mills for buildings and improvements, on a tax base expected to, by January, total $793,278,500 for land and $4,592,644,600 for buildings, including new construction, Tuerk's presentation states.
City officials now have a little more than two months to finalize the budget. A series of meetings on the budget are planned throughout the coming weeks. Legislators must adopt a budget by the end of the year.
A special meeting of Allentown’s City Council to adopt the budget is scheduled for Dec. 7.
