ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Just over halfway into Allentown’s 2023 fiscal year, city officials already are starting the process to draft next year’s budget, and city police and firefighters are warning they'll soon need new stations.
Three Allentown City Council committees met this week to hear what department chiefs want to do in 2024 — and how much they’ll need to do it.
- Allentown’s 2024 budget season got underway this week, with City Council members holding sting short budget-priority meetings
- Leaders of Allentown’s police and fire departments said they’ll likely need new facilities
- More top city officials are set to make their initial budget requests Thursday night
City Police Chief Charles Roca and Deputy Fire Chief Christian Williams were among the officials who laid out their budget priorities Wednesday.
Both told council they'll soon need new stations, which would likely require major investments from the city.
Council also heard about budget priorities for the city’s Public Works department and several offices that operate as part of the mayor’s administration.
No dollar figures were thrown out during Wednesday’s meeting, which was the first of many budgetary meetings Allentown officials will hold before the end of the year.
The city must adopt its 2024 budget by Dec. 31.
Police priorities
One of the Allentown Police Department’s top priorities for 2024 is to add more officers, Roca told Allentown City Council members Wednesday.
The department has 207 officers, 26 fewer than its “full complement,” he said. But he said he’s “very confident” of filling those open positions by spring of next year.
“I’m not asking for the whole shebang, but I think an investment in infrastructure is something that is key,” Roca said.Police Chief Charles Roca, asking for some of the city's $57 million in ARPA funding
The department received more than 700 applications for its next Civil Service test for police officers, scheduled for this weekend, Roca said.
“With this potential infusion of personnel, we will more than likely be at full complement for the first quarter of 2024,” Roca said.
Allentown City Council’s Public Safety Committee, which has two former longtime police officers as members, also listed “adequate staffing” as a top priority for the 2024 budget.
Chief: Invest in infrastructure
Roca urged council to consider using some of the city’s $57 million in federal pandemic-relief funds to build a new police station and upgrade the training academy.
“I’m not asking for the whole shebang, but I think an investment in infrastructure is something that is key,” Roca said.
Allentown Police Department’s headquarters near City Hall was built more than 50 years ago and isn’t big enough to fit “every officer … under one roof,” Roca said, highlighting a centralized headquarters as one of his long-term goals.
The department also has a patrol station at 10th and Hamilton streets. That facility “has been a problem since we moved in,” he said.
Central Fire Station is "costly to maintain as it was never meant to be a firehouse. ... Structurally speaking, it is actually falling apart.”Deputy Fire Chief Christian Williams
The city has spent money to repair numerous issues at the patrol station, including a roof that still leaks, Roca said. Redevelopment in that area — including a planned boutique hotel next door — is also causing parking issues for officers, he said.
The chief also asked council members to fund work at Allentown Police Academy, which he said “needs substantial upgrades.”
Fire station ‘falling apart’
Allentown Fire Department also need new facilities in the next few years, Deputy Fire Chief Christian Williams told council Wednesday.
The department’s main station — Central Fire Station — was a car dealership about a century ago before being converted, Williams said. Its smaller garage doors limit which vehicles the department can use there, he said.
Fearless Fire Station isn’t much better and “is in dire need of upgrading or replacing."Allentown Deputy Fire Chief Christian Williams
“It’s also costly to maintain as it was never meant to be a firehouse,” Williams said. “Structurally speaking, it is actually falling apart.”
Fearless Fire Station isn’t much better and “is in dire need of upgrading or replacing,” the deputy chief said.
Meanwhile, Mack South Fire Station “lacks proper accommodations for our paramedics,” he said.
Williams also urged council members to consider investing next year in vehicles the fire department and emergency medical services will need in 2026. Build times for some specialized vehicles are longer than 600 days, he said.
The EMS department also is looking to change its pay scale to better compensate paramedics and reflect “the professional requirements our staff maintain,” Williams said.
